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Ruben Amaro Jr. told Ryan Howard Phillies better off without him
How's this for brutal honesty? In a radio appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia on Friday, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. revealed that he's spoken with first baseman Ryan Howard recently and admitted to telling him point blank the Phillies would be better off "not with him but without him."
Here's the full quote from Matt Lombardo of NJ Advance Media:
"We've talked to Ryan," Amaro said. "And I told him that in our situation it would probably bode better for the organization not with him but without him. With that said if he's with us, then we'll work around him. We'll hope he puts up the kind of numbers that we hope he can and we'll see where it goes from there."
First and foremost, it's clear to everybody that Howard's best days are behind him. The likelihood of a return to All-Star level production is somewhere between slim and none, and slim just vacated the premises. He's 35 years old. He still has respectable power as his 23 home runs last season illustrate, but he's just not the offensive force he was before injuring tearing his Achillies in the 2011 playoffs.
But still, ouch.
It's probably not often a general manager says such potentially stinging words to a player they're not in conflict with. Even then, it might be a heat-of-the-moment situation where things eventually blow over. We're talking 11 seasons, 334 home runs, 1,058 RBIs, a Rookie of the Year, one MVP in 2006, three All-Star selections, and of course, one World Series championship.
Those are all indicative of a healthy baseball and business partnership between the two sides. But perhaps Amaro's honesty is indicative of a strong personal relationship as well. Besides, it's not like Howard himself doesn't understand the situation. He knows the Phillies are finally looking to rebuild. Out with the old and the $60 million left on his contract, in with the new and more affordable.
It's business.
But the awkward part could come in the 60 million reasons it will be near impossible to trade Howard. It's difficult to imagine any team taking on significant money for a declining player. Even the ones desperate for a designated hitter. Also, despite his surprising public admission, Amaro has no designs on releasing Howard, either.
"No ones going to release Ryan Howard," he said. "That's not going to happen. Ryan Howard is too productive and too important a player to just release. You just don't do that with a player like that. But, we don't have any designs on doing that."
We're guessing the other 29 teams will put more stock in the numbers and Amaro's first quote, making it likely Howard suits up for the Phillies again in 2015. If indeed that's the case, things could get quite interesting in Philadelphia
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
