Former Phillies 1B Ryan Howard: ”By no means am I done”

Ryan howard spring

Former Philadelphia Phillies says he has no plans to retire. (Frank Klose/STP)

By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor

When the Atlanta Braves released former Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard Monday, Sports Talk Philly published a piece suggesting that this was likely the end of Howard's career. Howard respectfully disagrees. 

The former National League MVP spoke to Meghan Montemurro of The News Journal and was adamant that he doesn't believe his career is over: 

"By no means am I done," Howard told The News Journal during a phone conversation Friday afternoon. "My plans haven't changed to try and play.

"My mindset with that hasn't changed at all."

The 37-year-old slashed just .184/.238/.263 in 38 at-bats with the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves. Admittedly, Howard didn't get an especially long chance to heat up, but his low triple slash was also backed up by the fact that he had just one home run and eight RBIs in his brief time in the minors.

It's not clear why the Braves didn't sign Howard earlier, but it appears they intended to give him a brief stint in the minors before they began a run of seven games in American League parks this month that Howard could have been called up to serve as the DH in. Those games began in Tuesday in Houston, one day after the Braves ultimately released Howard. 

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While Howard may not be ready to retire, it's hard to envision him getting another opportunity. The 2008 World Series champion drew little interest this offseason and was unimpressive in his time in the Braves organization. From his perspective, it may be worth waiting out the summer and seeing if any contender becomes interested in him as a DH or a pinch-hitter. But in all likelihood, Howard's MLB career is over. 

If Howard's career is over, he will fall just 18 home runs shy of 400, but his resume includes about everything that one could hope for. He won the 2005 National League Rookie of the Year. He won the 2006 National League MVP. He was one of the core pieces to the Phillies 2007-2011 run of National League dominance, in which they secured the franchise's second World Series title in 2008. He also made nearly $200 million in his career, making him the highest paid player in Phillies history.

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