Philadelphia Phillies Should Consider Shutting Down Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard’s highly anticipated return following his devastating Achilles tear was the talk across Philadelphia for quite sometime, but once Howard took to the field, it was clear that he was not same player he once was. The injury has definitely left a hitch in Ryan’s step and the Phillies are left with a player they owe a lot of money to in the coming years. $20 million in 2013 and $25 million from 2014-2016 and a 2017 $23 million club option with a $10 million buyout. 

Is Ryan Howard really going to be the difference maker in whether or not the Phillies will make the playoffs in 2012? Probably not. The Phillies should protect their investment, let him sit the remainder of the season and get a head start on rehab for 2013.

Since Howard’s return, he has struggled immensely to make solid, consistent contact. Through 227 at-bats, he is batting a career low .225 with 85 strikeouts. He’s even worse against lefties, hitting just .163. His WAR (wins above replacement), is a -1.0, which in laymen’s sabermetric terms means he is doing more harm than good for the Phillies in 2012.

Also, Ryan has appeared limited in his ability to play first base. His range and mobility are both suffering from the injury and it is costing the Phillies outs. 

Is there any really upside to letting him play at 75%?

Doesn’t seem like it, but if the Phillies somehow pull off a miracle and make the playoffs, by all means, they should let him play. That doesn’t mean he should be playing as much as he has been. Days off are critical to helping muscles heal and by his performance he could use the rest.

The Phillies also brought up Darin Ruf who still hasn’t had a chance to start one game. So much for seeing what you have for next year. They could also have the right-handed hitting Ty Wigginton or John Mayberry spell Ryan at first base against lefties if they are not comfortable with Ruf. Both hit lefties very well, a lot better than Ryan’s .163 mark this season.

Don’t get me wrong, this year is important and there still is a fraction of a chance the Phillies make the playoffs. The fact is that the Phillies owe Ryan Howard a ton of money. Next year, the year after that, and the year after that are much more important than a pipe dream playoff push.

Let’s hear what everyone else thinks.

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5 Things the Philadelphia Phillies Must Do to Make the 2012 Playoffs

With only 15 games left in the 2012 regular season, the Philadelphia Phillies margin for error is so finite that losing even one game may be what decides whether or not they make the postseason.

After one of the most disappointing first halves of a season in recent memory, the Phillies have put themselves in position to sneak into the second wild-card spot. A lot has to go their way, but anything is possible.

There are five things that must happen in order for the Phillies to make the playoffs in 2012 and here they are.

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MLB: Phillies Losing Series to Astros Will Cement Failed 2012 Season

Where do we start? A lot has gone wrong with the Phillies in 2012, and just when you were convinced things were turning around, they lost a four-game series to the worst team in the major leagues. They also fell to below .500, again, at 73-74.

Charlie Manuel’s decisions with the bullpen turned out disastrously—a common thread for the majority of the 2012 season.

Is Charlie simply making terrible decisions, or is everyone in the bullpen just that bad?

My guess is probably a little bit of both.

Manuel likes for pitchers to pitch out of trouble. Thing is, he doesn’t have pitchers who are capable of that, so he needs a much shorter leash with all of them. It seems like whoever he brings in gets shelled. What he is doing isn’t working. He needs to adapt to the players he has. Charlie has some raw talent in his bullpen—he just has to use the right tool for the job. 

The Phillies are not playing like a playoff team—at the plate, on the mound and especially in the field. The last few weeks have certainly made it clear that third base is a serious issue moving forward.

Kevin Frandsen has hit very well since being called up, but his defense has been sporadic, to say the least. How Michael Martinez is on a major league roster is mind-boggling. He’s a 30-year-old batting .172 (17-99) with an OPS of .474. His career numbers are consistently as bad, a career average of .188 in 308 at-bats. 

The Phillies have to adjust their outfield situation as well—they do not have one legitimate starting outfielder going into 2013. Pierre has had the best season by far and he just turned 35. Brown seems to be the only outfielder who will be guaranteed a starting spot next year.

They need power and they need it bad. 

The Phillies head to New York next, a must-sweep if the Phillies have any chance at all to make a playoff run. Their schedule after that is not an easy one, to say the least. Atlanta, Washington, Miami and then back to Washington.

It’s not an easy road ahead, but stranger things have happened. Either way, the Phillies have one of the most important upcoming offseasons in a long, long time.

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Detailing Where the Philadelphia Phillies’ Money Is Best and Worst Spent

The 2012 Philadelphia Phillies‘ payroll is just over $170 million. Unfortunately, general manager Ruben Amaro’s management of that cash has led to large sums of money spread out over only a few players—some worthy of their paycheck, some not even close.

The Phillies have finally gotten back over the .500 mark, but a team with this high of a payroll should never find itself 14 games under .500 to begin with.

Amaro has been too quick to sign players to extensions and overpay for talent. He might have to learn the hard way from his mistakes, but we’ll leave that decision to David Montgomery.

The Phillies have moved further and further away from a World Series victory ever since Amaro took over the helm in 2009. The Phillies’ streak of five straight NL East titles will end in a few short weeks, but at three games back from a wild-card spot, the Phillies still have a shot at returning to the postseason.

Here are three of the best and three of the worst allocations of funds for the 2012 Phillies. 

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5 Philadelphia Phillies Prospects That Could Steal a Job in 2013

Big changes are on the horizon for the Philadelphia Phillies. The last month of the season will serve as a tryout for players looking to earn a more substantial role in 2013. Some will flourish, some will bust, but one way or the other, change is eminent.

With new blood from Triple-A filling in admirably for injured and traded players, several prospects, both young and old are going to change the face of Phillies baseball.

A new era of Phillies baseball is upon us, the majority of the 2008 championship team has all but disappeared. Only a memory of what once was. With all the recent success, mediocrity will no longer be tolerated in the city of brotherly love. For the current Phillies roster, it’s shape up or ship out.

Here are 5 Phillies prospects who could steal a job in 2013.

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Philadelphia Phillies Need to Replace Charlie Manuel in 2013

Charlie Manuel will finish his career in Philadelphia as the winning-est coach in Phillies history. Whether his star-studded roster was the reason for his success will be for you, the fan, to decide.

The Phillies went from the best team in baseball to a team 17.5 games back of the first-place Washington Nationals in less than a year.

The team has also regressed every single season since they won the World Series in 2008. The more money the Phillies spent, the shorter Charlie led the Phillies into the postseason. 

Ruben Amaro Jr. has had a lot to do with the team’s dismal 2012 season, but any development at the major league level has simply not happened in 2012. Players are not improving and continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. That lays on the manager and his staff.

The only life in this team comes from players who were in Triple-A affiliate Lehigh Valley at the start of the 2012 season, aside from Carlos Ruiz’s stellar year. The clubhouse is slipping away from Charlie at a rapid pace. 

Charlie has done such a poor job with the 2012 Phillies, the home sellout streak was lost. With the fans leaving, so does the money. Fans need to be shown the Phillies’ organization is dedicated to winning. Without the fans, the Phillies will lose the money to sign free agents and soon return to mediocrity. 

Charlie has nothing left to accomplish in Philadelphia, and leaving him as the head coach for the Phillies in 2013 for good graces will only deter this team from making progress. A manager needs to be a leader, a man who makes tough choices not always to popular demand.

Manuel is not that man, never has been, never will be. He lets things play out in order to earn the respect of his players instead of making educated, precise decisions that lead to improving a ball club.

Instead, Charlie leaves his veteran players in roles they can no longer manage and refuses to give young players a chance unless he is forced to by trades or injuries. Jimmy Rollins is batting .243 and his OBP a lowly .303.

They are not a lead-off hitter’s numbers. A person who bats first has to be a player who avoids outs, not make them 70% of the time. His lack of respect for Charlie and the rest of the Phillies’ team was on display Thursday, when Rollins decided to dog it down to first base on a fly ball that was dropped and he was stuck at first base because of his lack of hustle.  

Manuel has been nothing short of horrendous in managing his pitching staff in 2012. He leaves worn-out starters in too long and makes even worse decisions when he decides who to bring into pitch from the bullpen. It seems every string that Charlie pulls turns into another late-inning Phillies loss.  

If Ruben wants to get back on top of the NL East, he will cut ties with Charlie Manuel and start a new Phillies dynasty.

It all starts with Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg. Kevin Frandsen and Erik Kratz, who both have put up torrid numbers after being called up from Triple-A have publicly raved about Sandberg. If the Phillies let him slip away again, it will be a mistake they pay for, for years to come. 

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5 Philadelphia Phillies Who Need a Big Finish to Avoid Being Let Go

With the dismal 2012 season approaching its end, there are several Philadelphia Phillies players auditioning for jobs on the 2013 25-man roster. Some faces will stay the same, but a lot will change by opening day, 2013. It’s time for players to step up or step aside, because mediocrity will not be tolerated in this town.

With contracts expiring and try-outs already taking place, who will sink and who will swim are the questions Phillies fans are asking themselves. The Phillies front office has the last month of the season to figure out a lot about its team moving forward into the 2013 season.

Who will stay and who will go? The next few weeks should tell us a lot about the Phillies moving forward.

Here are five current Phillies who must have a big final month of the season or find themselves in the unemployment line in 2013.  

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Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Big Weaknesses That Must Be Fixed to Compete in 2013

2012 will be a season to forget for the Philadelphia Phillies who will be lucky to finish the season with a .500 record. The Phillies sold off most of their outfield at the deadline, and the stars we have seen flourish in 2008 are becoming older, more injury-prone and less and less productive.

In order to compete with the Washington Nationals, who have turned into one of the best teams in baseball, drastic changes must be made to the Phillies current roster.

The Phillies have major holes in all three outfield positions, third base, the bullpen and one, maybe two rotation spots depending on how Vance Worley will respond to offseason surgery. 

Here are five weaknesses the Phillies must address if they want to compete for a title in 2013.

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5 Reason Why You Should Keep Watching the Philadelphia Phillies in 2012

The Philadelphia Phillies‘ performance in 2012 have caused many Phillies fans across the nation to turn off their TVs. Finding anything positive about the 2012 Phillies has been almost as difficult as spotting a shooting star across the Philadelphia skyline. Don’t tune out those TVs just yet; there are a few Phillies who are battling for their future with the organization.

The laundry list of Phillies injuries in 2012 have allowed some players to get more playing time. Some of these players are playing so well, they may be playing themselves into a job for 2013.

Here are five reasons why you should continue to watch the Phillies here in 2012. 

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Time for the Philadelphia Phillies to Pull the Plug on John Mayberry Jr.

After John Mayberry Jr. finished his 103rd game of the season going 0-for-5 against the St. Louis Cardinals, it’s time for Charlie Manuel to pull the plug on what has became a terrible experiment.

John Mayberry Jr. is not, and never will be, an everyday major league player. He is batting a measly .228 in 276 at-bats, with an even more pathetic 26 RBI. His OPS is .656, which is one of the worst lines in baseball for a player with over 250 at-bats.

John also provides no threat on the base paths and his defense has been anything but stellar, taking terrible, lazy routes and misjudging multiple balls he should have caught. 

Mayberry is thought to hit left-handed pitching well, but on the season he is hitting only .263. A mediocre average for a major league hitter. Those numbers look great compared to his splits against right-handed pitching, .209 with 51 strikeouts in only 153 at-bats. It can’t get much worse than that.

The more playing time John receives, the worse he plays. Pitchers have recognized his flaws and are exploiting them. The holes in his swing are far to great to give him an everyday job.

Phillies management need to recognize what they have in Mayberry, which is a fourth or fifth outfielder who only plays against left-handed pitching.

If Mayberry does not wish to accept the fifth outfield role, then the Phillies and John should part ways. There simply is no room on a $170 million roster for a starting outfielder with no upside. John will turn 29 in December and the clock is ticking on is time in Philadelphia.   

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