By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
For the first time in his career, former Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is a free-agent. The future Wall of Famer appears to be embracing the challenge, as he looks for a second phase to his career.
Whistle Sports published a video Friday, showing Howard's workout regimen and him giving his thoughts about where his career goes from here. The video both served Howard, who wouldn't hurt from generating some buzz about his ability to still play, and his trainer, whose name isn't mentioned in the video but seems to be putting Howard through a world-class workout.
In the video, Howard discussed why he hopes to continue his career even after posting the lowest batting average of his career in 2016.
"There's still that fire, there's still that passion to want to play, to want to compete in the tank. I just want to, I want to play until I burn that completely out," Howard said.
In 112 games in 2016, Howard slashed .196/.257/.453, while slugging 25 home runs and posting a career-high 31.5 percent strikeout rate. Despite the fairly popular belief that 2016 was an indication that Howard may be best served retiring, Howard says he chooses to ignore any potential outside distractions.
"I mean, you're always going to have people that doubt you. You're always going to have people that say 'oh, this guy can't do this' or 'this guy is this.' It's easy, they're not me. I know the amount of work that I put in. I know what it takes for me to do what I need to do."
The 37-year-old is probably limited to attempting to be a designated hitter for one of the 15 American League teams as he seeks a new job, given his physical decline. It seems likely that Howard will have to sign a minor league deal and compete for a job in Spring Training to continue his career. The former National League MVP says that he's looking forward to whatever challenges come his way.
"Now it's time for me to look on and move forward to hopefully a new team."
