MLB: Ten Worst Position Players in Baseball
By Gavin Lee
1. Ryan Howard
2016: 94 PA, .190/.255/.417, 59 wRC+, -0.6 fWAR
If Ryan Howard reads this list, he’s probably not going to be that heartbroken. Even if he is, he’s got about 155 million things to help him cheer up. After winning the Rookie of the Year trophy in 2005, Howard went on to win the NL MVP trophy in his sophomore season, hitting a whopping 58 home runs. He went on to post three more seasons with more than 40 home runs from 2007-09, and two solid if unspectacular years following that. Then everything fell apart.
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On the Phillies’ last swing of the 2011 season, Howard tore his Achilles tendon while grounding out in Game 5 of the NLDS. He was still recovering from the injury when the 2012 season started, and has quite simply never been the same player. Before the injury, Howard was worth 21.6 WAR over seven seasons; after, he’s put up -2.0 in four and a month.
This year has been the worst of his career thus far, striking out in a third of his at bats and being a huge liability defensively. He’s earning $25 million this season and next, concluding what has been one of the worst contracts in baseball history. It’s a far fall for a player who once looked like he’d push the 500 home run club, and go down as one of the best power hitters in the game.
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Now he’ll struggle through these next two seasons and take the $10 million dollar buyout in 2018 when the Phillies are sure to turn down his option.