Phillies willing to eat about $50 million to trade Ryan Howard

It's been a tumultuous past couple of months for Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. In December, his own general manager said the club would be better off without him. While Ruben Amaro Jr. has backtracked on those statements, it's clear the Phillies are motivated to shed the contract of the 35-year-old Howard.

In fact, the club is so motivated to deal Howard that they are allegedly willing to eat about $50 million, according to Anthony Castrovince of Sports on Earth. Howard is guaranteed $60 million over the next three seasons, so that's a significant figure.

Howard will make $25 million in both 2015 and 2016, and then has a $10 million buyout for 2017. He technically has a $23 million club option that the Phillies, or his new club, could pick up, but that seems unlikely given his declining numbers.

Still, getting a first baseman for $5 million per season is somewhat enticing. As Castrovince notes in the piece, Kendrys Morales managed to snag a two-year, $17 million deal this offseason after hitting just .218/.274/.338 over 401 at-bats. Morales is four years younger than Howard, but doesn't have the same upside offensively.

Of course, a big reason why the Phillies want to trade Howard is that he hasn't shown that offensive upside over the past couple of seasons. After two injury-riddled campaigns in 2012 and 2013, Howard hit .223/.310/.380, with 23 home runs, in 153 games last year.

As usual, spring training has led to a lot of optimism. Howard reportedly looks much better at the plate, and has been working on his swing with former manager Charlie Manuel. While it's possible he'll bounce back, it's more likely the club is motivated to boost Howard's value while he's on the trade block.

After losing Cliff Lee for the foreseeable future, the Phillies are down one useful trade asset. While Howard probably won't fetch much on the market, lowering his price to this level could get a team to take a flyer on the veteran.

The fire sale hasn't started in Philly just yet, but that's not because the team lacks motivation. If the reports are true, Philadelphia is doing everything it can to sell off Howard for a useful part. Given the team's expectations, it's probably the smartest move they can make.

Whether they can find anyone who will bite, even at the discounted price, is the bigger question.