Ryan Howard Trade Rumors: ‘Zero chance’ he is claimed on waivers
By Josh Hill
The Philadelphia Phillies were swinging what they thought was a big stick this summer when it came to trade deadline deals they almost made, but the big stick turned out to be a broken twig as no deals were made in time for the non-waiver deadline.
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That doesn’t mean Philly won’t be making deals though, as they placed almost everyone one waivers this month with notable names like A.J. Burnett, Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard all being placed on waivers in the last few days.
According to CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman, here is virtually no chance that Ryan Howard gets claimed on waivers this month as his massive salary is just too ridiculous for anyone to justify paying. Heyman does note though that once Howard clears waivers, should the Phillies be willing to eat almost all of his remaining $70 million, Howard could help out an A.L. contending team.
"He has zero chance to be claimed, With $70 million to go through 2016, no one will go near him. But perhaps he could help an AL club, provided the Phils pay down his salary by 80 percent, or more."
It’s been a hard fall for the former MVP as Howard has dropped off the face of the earth and his salary now seems like theft more than a contract. Philly wants out of it bad, but they’re going to be saving pennies on the dollar with how much of his deal they’ll have to eat to convince anyone to take him on.
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