Ryan Howard was released from the Atlanta Braves on Monday, and now fans are wondering what the first baseman’s next career move is.
First baseman Ryan Howard has fallen off a bit since being one of the bigger names in baseball in the late 2000s, and he suffered another setback as he was released from the Braves on Monday.
The Braves’ Twitter account confirmed the news and may have confirmed the end of Howard’s career in the process.
The 37-year-old couldn’t cut it in Triple-A and likely won’t receive much interest from teams around the league for his designated hitter abilities.
The #Braves have released 1B Ryan Howard from his minor-league contract.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 8, 2017
Howard had a .184 batting average in 38 at-bats for the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, the Gwinnett Braves, and proved he lost his (star) power quickly in his short tenure with the team. He hasn’t been seen in an MLB game since October with the Philadelphia Phillies.
If it is the end for Howard’s baseball career, he certainly went down swinging. Howard has accumulated 382 home runs in his career and won plenty of accolades, like being named 2005 National League Rookie of the Year and 2006 National League MVP. He also helped contribute to the Phillies’ World Series title in 2008 and holds the record for most home runs in a single season in the franchise’s history.
Howard is also currently the highest-paid player in Philadelphia’s long history, which makes sense given his production for the team in his run from 2006-2016.
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Howard’s next step could potentially be on the financial side of things, as he recently signed a deal with the venture capital firm SeventySix Capital as a partner. Howard may have already been planning for his departure from the sport, as the move was announced just a few days ago in the midst of his Triple-A struggles.
If it is the end of the road, Howard will go down as one of the Phillies’ all-time greats and one of the more dominant names in baseball in the 2000s.