Recently, there’s been a lot of talk as to what to do with Ryan Howard. Some people say the Phillies should trade him. He has no value. Even if the Phillies paid every last cent owed to Howard AND took on a bad contract to offset the ten million dollars owed to Howard in the form of a buyout, all you’d be doing is taking on a similar headache and possibly a longer-term one. So that’s a no. Some people seem to think that Howard would do the honorable thing and just retire. Cue the Michael Jack Schmidt references. Would anyone in their right mind walk away from millions of dollars? Howard would be forfeiting roughly twenty-five million dollars or so. That’s an insane amount of money to walk away from. So that’s a no too. The best one I’ve heard is the just sit him on the bench. Yeah, that’s not opening a can of worms.

While sitting Howard would give more playing time to recent call up Tommy Joseph, it would also most likely cause the Player’s Association to file a grievance. Despite Howard having more than twice as many strike outs as hits this season, it will be an issue. They’ll likely point out that Howard is also being a productive player. The MLBPA will argue that Howard has just as many Home Runs and eight less Runs Batted In than teammate Maikel Franco in forty less at bats. There will be plenty of counter arguments that will play against the Phillies if they were to try to just sit Howard. So that’s a no go.

The only choice? Release Howard. Pay him the remainder of this season. Pay him his buy out. Hell, maybe you’ll get lucky and someone will pick him up for the league minimum and allow the Phillies to recoup the money to pay a minor leaguer to play ball in South Philly. What’s even more valuable is the roster spot that Howard is clogging up. No, I don’t think he’s blocking Joseph or anyone else from debuting and sending the Phillies to the next level, but just having the flexibility to put someone there is paramount. Eventually, Cody Asche is gonna need a spot unless he gets optioned to AAA Lehigh Valley. Being able to bring someone off the disabled list without making a move makes life so much easier.

Just release him. Get it over with. I keep hearing how the like having Howard around because of his club house presence. You know what you call someone who can’t play the game anymore at the highest level and inspires team mates to perform? A coach. We have plenty of them. The players will get over Howard not showing up. That’s what players do. It’s a business, not the Boy Scouts.

Tags: Michael Haftman, Phillies Choice, Philly Sports News, Ryan Howard, TalkSportsPhilly