Ryan Howard/Phillies agree to extension

[MHizzle85]

I wouldn't say it's that bad of a contract.

 

The guy's averaged around 50 HR/140 RBI for the last 5 years & been top 5 in the MVP vote each of those years.

[Balta1701]

I wouldn't say it's that bad of a contract.

 

The guy's averaged around 50 HR/140 RBI for the last 5 years & been top 5 in the MVP vote each of those years.

If he does that until he's 36, no one's going to care about how much the contract is for. It's the $25 million at age 36 that you have to call risky.

[Steve9347]

You could make an argument that he has more power than Pujols.

Not really. If Albert swung at everything and sacrificed average and walks for more strikeouts, he'd clear 60 each year. He's a much more complete player, but his "power" is only less than Howard's because he's that much better.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

There is no player in major league baseball right now, that as a GM, I'd sign to a contract that big (unless I was the Yankees GM and had basically endless money to spend). Its the equivalent of putting a third of your 401k into one stock. Its just stupid for a franchise to put that much stake in one player.

 

[Steve9347]

There is no player in major league baseball right now, that as a GM, I'd sign to a contract that big (unless I was the Yankees GM and had basically endless money to spend). Its the equivalent of putting a third of your 401k into one stock. Its just stupid for a franchise to put that much stake in one player.

Let alone a player that is as feast or famine as Ryan Howard is...

[Kalapse]

I wouldn't say it's that bad of a contract.

 

The guy's averaged around 50 HR/140 RBI for the last 5 years & been top 5 in the MVP vote each of those years.

It was lame when Heyman tweeted that this morning and it's lame now. For one; it's 4 years, not 5.

 

I'm so sick of hearing about his RBI totals: if you're a very good offensive player as Howard is you had better be putting up astronomical RBI totals when you have the VERY BEST combination of great OBP and great speed guys ahead of you as Howard has as the cleanup hitter for the Phils over the course of his career. Just look at these OBP and SB totals from the top 3 spots in the Phillies lineup over past 3 years:

 

2009:

#1: .294, 32 SB

#2: .376, 23 SB

#3: .392, 26 SB

 

2008:

#1: .356, 50 SB

#2: .347, 39 SB

#3: .359, 15 SB

 

2007:

#1: .345, 40 SB

#2: .358, 36 SB

#3: .384, 17 SB

 

2006:

#1: .331, 37 SB

#2: .396, 14 SB

#3: .395, 27 SB

 

He's in the very best position in the majors to drive in runs, this just speaks to the fact that if you get guys on base in front of good hitters they will drive in runs, the more often these guys get on, the more runs will be driven in. There aren't great RBI men, there's just very good hitters who are afforded a high number of RBI opportunities. You drop Howard in the Sox offense and something tells me his RBI totals take a precipitous drop.

 

And then the MVP voting: I have a problem with people using votes from sports writers as some sort of gauge of a player's worth, like these people know what the f*** they're doing. Look no further than 1 spot ahead of Howard in the Phillies lineup to find a perfect example of why Sports Writers don't truly understand the game. The Phillies truly best player over the past 5 years hasn't finished any higher than 7th in MVP voting in his career, has twice finished outside the top 10 and watched 2 of his teammates take home the award.

 

Ryan Howard's a hell of a baseball player but I have a huge problem with the way people try to prove it. There's no doubting the man is an incredible HR hitter but he doesn't draw walks like the elites of the game to make up for his perennially low batting averages (and astronomical K rates) which is why he hasn't cracked a .400 wOBA since 2006 -- a year in which he'll never replicate -- and he's 23rd in wOBA over the past 3 full seasons. So people have to make other, straw man arguments to prove his greatness. Why he can't just be considered a greatly flawed, incredible HR hitter who doesn't do much else and is put in arguably the best position to succeed of any player in the game, I'll never know.

[bschmaranz]

You woulda thought they'd learned their lesson when they gave Thome all that money. Really isn't Howard the same type of player?

[LittleHurt05]

Why Ryan Howard Is More Expensive Than Mark Teixeira

 

I thought this was a good breakdown of why the Phillies had to overpay and what it means for other teams, and how it actually helps the Yankees.

[Kalapse]

You woulda thought they'd learned their lesson when they gave Thome all that money. Really isn't Howard the same type of player?

Ryan Howard couldn't hold Jim Thome's jock. In his 8 seasons leading up to his arrival in Philly Jim Thome hit .293/.426/.588/1.013. Howard's come close to replicating this line only once (he actually surpassed it) whereas Jim Thome AVERAGED that line over an 8 year span. People thought Jim Thome struck out a lot well Ryan Howard is a totally different monster and he doesn't have anywhere near the AVG or BBs of a prime-years Jim Thome to make up for it.

[LittleHurt05]

You woulda thought they'd learned their lesson when they gave Thome all that money. Really isn't Howard the same type of player?

 

Sweet, maybe KW will trade for him in 2015!

[Balta1701]

Sweet, maybe KW will trade for him in 2015!

If the Phillies paid 2/3 of the contract again...

[Milkman delivers]

Let alone a player that is as feast or famine as Ryan Howard is...

 

Is that Patrick Stewart firing a machine gun? What's that from?

[Balta1701]

Is that Patrick Stewart firing a machine gun? What's that from?

The Patrick Stewart part is from the Holodeck in "Star Trek: First Contact", firing at 2 borg drones. The kid is edited in. If you'd like I can start typing out the script from memory.

[Milkman delivers]

The Patrick Stewart part is from the Holodeck in "Star Trek: First Contact", firing at 2 borg drones. The kid is edited in. If you'd like I can start typing out the script from memory.

 

Ha, I know the second part and that it's edited in. I just couldn't think of any movie where I'd seen Patrick Stewart shoot a gun