April 26, 2010

The Howard Extension

News Item: Phillies extend Ryan Howard for 5 years, $125 million

Howard's an excellent player and by all accounts a wonderful guy. He's done as much as anyone to bring the Phillies into perennial contention, and I'm glad he'll still be playing in town at whatever point my son becomes cognizant of baseball. My wife even got Noah a Howard t-shirt yesterday, in part to counteract all the Twins stuff my friends and relatives have been sending.

But Howard, as I've said numerous times, is the type of player who tends to decline in his early-to-mid 30s and need to become a DH, something that can't happen in Philly. Sure, he's gotten in better shape in recent years and become a better fielder as well. The Phils will be happy with this deal for the first couple of years, I'm sure- but will they at the end? I'm not so sure.

The national and sabermetric types, by the way, have been killing this deal.

Posted by Stephen Silver at April 26, 2010 05:04 PM
Comments

At this point the only downside to Ryan Howard is that he shills for Subway. That said, the deal will lock him up for as long as he lasts as a NL first baseman, then trade him to an AL team as a DH right when his value is at a minimum to the Phils but maximum to a team in need of a DH ... and it won't be the Yankees or Sox. The trade will ultimately net the Phils ... prospects and/or pitching. Win-win-win for the Phils, Phils fans, and baseball.

Posted by: LilB at April 27, 2010 11:25 AM
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