Phillies reportedly willing to eat $50 million to trade Ryan Howard

The Philadelphia Phillies are reportedly so desperate to trade first baseman Ryan Howard that they are willing to eat almost his entire salary.

Howard currently has two years and $50 million remaining on the five-year, $125 million contract he signed back in 2010. He also has a $23 million team option for 2017 that can be bought out for $10 million. That means Howard has about $60 million in total remaining on his deal.

According to MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, the Phillies are willing to eat somewhere in the range of $50 million to unload Howard. They’re likely desperate to get something in return for the 2006 NL MVP, but is any team even interested in a 35-year-old slugger with a .223 batting average at $5 million per year?

Howard struck out an MLB-leading 190 times last season and posted career lows in slugging percentage and OPS. That said, he still managed to drive in 95 runs and hit 23 home runs. Surely there are players making around $5 million who are less productive than that, right?

Maybe not. Most teams would probably rather develop a young player than plug Howard into their lineup. Heck, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro told Howard the team would be better off without him, though he later apologized and admitted that was a lousy thing to say publicly. That still wasn’t as bad as what these Atlanta Braves fans said about Howard.

The reality is no team is willing to give up something of value for Howard, whether his salary is cheap or not. If the Phillies are willing to eat almost his entire contract, they might as well just release him.

H/T Hardball Talk