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Phillies may have a trading partner for Ryan Howard

The Phillies may have a taker on Ryan Howard.

While there are presumably some players on the Phillies' roster with higher and more obvious trade value, the Kansas City Royals have reportedly had "internal discussions" on acquiring the former slugging first baseman. From USA Today's Bob Nightengale:

"The Royals aren't about to rip up their payroll, and David Glass suddenly isn't about to go all Steinbrenner on us, but if the Phillies are willing to eat most of the contract, the Royals have had internal discussions about acquiring him."

Howard's power has all but disappeared after several demoralizing, injury-riddled seasons. However, his slash line of .223/.310/.380 in 2014 after appearing in 153 games was the worst in his career, not to mention his league-leading 190 strikeouts.

Long has it been said that Howard belonged in the American League, where he could find new life as a designated hitter and not have to subject a team to his below-average defense in the field. The Royals have an opening at the position, too, with the potential departure of Billy Butler, but Butler's production, while limited, still far surpassed that of Howard in 2014; 28-year-old Butler's .271 BA and .702 OPS were the lowest of his seven-year career and still far more effective than Howard.

If the Royals were truly interested, it can be widely assumed that the Phillies will be scarfing down the majority of Howard's remaining $60 million. With Howard being a generally avoided option on the market, a trade that would see any sort of return would be a bonus, while freeing up the first base position for experimentation with someone like Maikel Franco.