This may not even be realistic, but would you prefer signing Howard at his 10 or 15 million per season or just trying to get a Sheets or Sabathia or one of whoever the top free-agent pitchers are?
I'd rather get a sheets or sabathia, i'd rather the phils revamp their minors and get better coaches in their, how come gavin floyd can suddenly pitch when he's gone from philadelphia? Maybe they actually worked with the kid in the off season?
The foible that is common in baseball seems to be buiilding around 'park strength' which helps every tema, i think it's better to build around a park weakness....everyone will 'benefit' from the 'launching pad' (real or not) but if you build a pitching staff strong enough to maintain in that park (GROUND BALL PITCHERS) you get the advantage
It seems to me from watching the playoffs every year that we would likely be more successful swapping Howard for an ace.
Well yeah, but it wouldn't happen...Ryan Howard is basically a DH, a pretty good DH, but a DH who 'strikes out too much', and for people that still matters, and it's easier to find a home run hitter who can barely field than an ace pitcher...remember, the red sox basically took david ortiz off the scrap heap from the twins....top line pitching is MUCH harder to get/develop than a poor fielding home run hitter...
