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Fans Say Phillies Should Release Ryan Howard

By Andrew Porter

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Ryan Howard has played his entire career in Philadelphia, accumulating accomplishments such as a 2005 NL Rookie of the Year award, five All-Star Game appearances, a 2006 NL MVP award, a 2009 NLCS MVP award, and most important---a 2008 World Series championship ring.

According to Thursday's 94WIP Morning Show Audio Roadshow question, Phillies fans think the team should flat-out release the former NL MVP. Contrarily, CBSSports.com baseball writer Jon Heyman says cutting Howard makes no sense.

Audio Roadshow Results: Fans Vote To Release Ryan Howard

The genuine, likable first baseman is hitting .224 with a .305 on-base percentage and was benched on Wednesday night in favor of Darin Ruf. While Howard does have 15 home runs and 60 RBI's, he has 118 strikeouts and only one homer in his last 121 plate appearances (as pointed out by CSNPhilly.com's Corey Seidman). His wins above replacement (WAR) is -0.4.

Howard, 34, is owed $50 million over the next two seasons and can be bought out for $10 million in 2017.

"This is baseball," Howard told reporters before Wednesday night's game. "I know some people might misconstrue this comment, but baseball is a game. Yeah, I get paid a lot of money to play it, but it's a game. You go out and see little kids doing it, because it's a game. You have to keep things in perspective."

Update: 9:20am

Ryan Howard is out of lineup on Thursday for the second straight game.

 

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