This one stat shows how bad Ryan Howard’s decline was

By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor

Despite the fact that former Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard trained the entire offseason to continue his career in 2017, buzz surrounding a potential fit for Howard has been almost non-existent. Barring a series of injuries around the league, it appears that the league may be letting the 37-year-old know that his career is over. 

If there's one statistic that indicates why Howard's career may be over after 13 years, High Heat Stats appears to have pinpointed it: 

Ryan Howard posted the worst WAR in baseball history from Age 32 onward, among all batters: pic.twitter.com/SK2lo5DCOV

— High Heat Stats 📎 (@HighHeatStats) March 8, 2017

WAR isn't exactly a statistic that anyone regularly cites to make a positive case for Howard — he has a 14.9 career WAR, per Baseball Reference, which pails in comparison to a 46.0 from Jimmy Rollins and a 64.4 from Chase Utley. Still, Howard posting a -4.5 WAR over a five-year stretch was a drastic decline from what he did earlier in his career.

In his National League MVP season of 2006 alone, he posted a 5.2 WAR. From 2005-2009, his most productive five-year stretch, Howard posted a 16.8 WAR. Even between 2010 and 2011, when Howard started to decline, he had a combined 2.4 WAR.

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Howard's five-year decline may not be his legacy, but it's certainly part of it. 2012-2016 doesn't erase 2005-2011, but being a bad player for half a decade certainly works to water down your legacy. 

Even though he posted his highest slugging percentage and home run total since 2011 in 2016, it's not hard to see why Howard has drawn little interest in his first stint as a free-agent. He can't play the field anymore, which already eliminates 15 teams. He's a virtual lock to produce an out against lefthanded pitching, which makes him a designated hitter that can't play when a lefthanded pitcher is pitching and will be streaky at best against righthanded pitching. There's such a limited market for niche DH types and teams have elected to either sign players like Chris Carter or go with internal options over Howard.