Ryan Howard Gets Another Chance

[EastFallowfield]

Mark Bowman (mlbbowman)

[el-pietro]

Honestly thought he was done. Surprised hes agreed to a MiLB deal

[bkeich]

Hope he succeeds, but honestly I think it is less than a 10% chance.

[VoteForKalas]

I was hoping he'd retire for his own sake and start the next chapter of life.

[zambonir]

Unfortunately Ryan doesn't strike me as a guy with much of a plan for life after baseball. Seems too shy for TV or, I dunno, owning a car dealership or beer distributor. Hard to imagine him as a hitting instructor, though it's entirely possible his experience, both good and bad, would translate to teaching. I do think he'll end up working for the Phillies eventually (appearances, guest spot in Clearwater).

If he's willing to ride the bus he should ride the bus. Though, if he just wants to play, rather than hang on to what will be the longest shot at a World Series ring (imagine all the things that would have to happen from where he is now), he'd be amazing in Asia.

[Philsmania]

If he makes it back, it will be as a Matt Stairs-type home run off the bench guy. I wish him well.

[bkeich]

Sadly, his family has apparently really taken advantage of him. Hopefully he was smart enough to shield his last years salary and his buy out from them (that would be a nominal $40M, so enough to squeeze through life ).

Ryan always struck me as a pretty bright guy, but Zambonir is right, he probably wont be an announcer or a coach, that just doesnt seem like something he would excel at. My guess is that he could be a guy who invests his money and makes money as a business man, but who knows, really he doesnt have to do anything. He also always struck me as a guy with a big heart, he often did things around Philadelphia and his home outside St. Louis, maybe he will just spend his time trying to spread some of his money around and do some good.

Either way, I like many do wish he would just accept that he isnt able to hit particularly well anymore. He had a little resurgence last year and I will hope he becomes a Matt Stairs type, but I am not optimistic.

[zambonir]

Heh, yeah, he's definitely not broke despite what happened.

I find it interesting that the AL wasn't an option for him. Teams don't seem that interested in one-dimensional DH types, especially on the bench, they want guys who can field or play multiple positions and if they don't have one really great DH, lots of guys get a turn.

[mdougherty12]

If he makes it back, it will be as a Matt Stairs-type home run off the bench guy. I wish him well.

As a pinch-hitter, I can't imagine Howard would ever get to face a RHP, outside of blowouts.

[flyers19rw]

My reaction also was why not an AL team? With the Braves, he is blocked. Freeman has 1B locked up for forever.

[EastFallowfield]

Maybe he didn't have a lot of options?

[VoteForKalas]

AL teams likely do not want a DH who cannot hit very well, is slow on the bases and would be matched up with LH by their opponents.

[zambonir]

He's a long ways away from even getting to Gwinnett, sounds like. As Murphy pointed out today, he can commute to XST from his house. He could be there for two months (most other players have already got that much time in, counting informal supervised workouts in early February).

So it's possible he or the Braves don't even go through with it. But Freeman doesn't matter, if they have a spot for him it will be to PH, maybe start once every two weeks.

AL or NL, defense (and defensive analytics, even if they still aren't perfect) is also more important than ever. I'm sure that helped Stassi's cause at 1B as well.

[zambonir]

This ESPN story makes the case against Howard for all the obvious reasons, but then ends up (IMO) arguing that he's likely to end up on the roster. The GM is talking like he's more than just a minor league longshot. And there's this:

On the other hand, maybe the Braves think Howard actually can help a terrible bench that includes two light-hitting catchers, Kurt Suzuki and Anthony Recker, plus utility players Jace Peterson, Chase d'Arnaud and Emilio Bonifacio.

Braves' signing of Ryan Howard makes no sense

[donaldorc]

I love Ryan, but come on, it's over. Time to think about life after baseball.