Howard announced his retirement from baseball Tuesday.
It's something of a surprise that this hadn't already happened, as the 38-year-old hasn't played in the majors since 2016 and hasn't played at any level this year. The Phillies may have wished he retired after the 2011 season, as he posted a 93 wRC+ over the last five years of his career while making $125 million. The first baseman's steep decline and big contract shouldn't overshadow the success he had in the first half of his career, however, as he was a Rookie of the Year, MVP and World Series champion. He'll end his career with 1,475 hits and 382 homers, tied for 67th all time in the latter category.
Rockies' Ryan Howard: Reports to Albuquerque on Saturday
Rotowire
Howard has reported to Triple-A Albuquerque and will be available for Saturday's game.
After inking a minor-league deal with the Rockies' organization earlier in the day, Howard has already reported to Triple-A and will be in uniform Saturday. He'll need to show more at the dish than he did earlier in the season at Triple-A Gwinnett, when he slashed just .184/.238/.263, in order to get consideration for a promotion to the Rockies before the year is out.
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Rockies' Ryan Howard: Inks minor-league deal with Rockies
Rotowire
Howard agreed to terms on a minor-league deal with the Rockies on Saturday.
The veteran slugger has been a free agent since he was released by the Braves in May. Howard slashed a mere .184/.238/.263 in 11 minor-league games in the Braves organization prior to his release and he hit just .196 in 112 games with the Phillies last season. He won't be on the 40-man roster to start, but if Howard starts getting back on track, there's a possibility of him joining the Rockies as a left-handed power bat off the bench in September.
Howard was released from his contract with the Braves on Monday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Howard mustered just a .184 batting average and struck out 11 times in as many games for Triple-A Gwinnett. Even if Howard still has the power -- and he wasn't showing it this year, as he'd managed just one home run -- it's obvious that his bat is just too slow for him to be a productive major-league player at age 37.
