The idea of Ryan Howard being considered a trade option after the the 2006 season would be by many an absurd thought. After all, he hit 58 homers, and drove in 149 runs. Now, however, it is not only a common and well-wanted thing among the fan base, but the organization itself is desperately trying to unload him. They are trying to do all this, despite a $60 million contract still owed to the aging 34 year-old, as well as, production that is going down. Production that only produced 23 homers, and a .223 average this past year. So, being a part of this fan base, I too thought of the possibility of trading him in certain scenarios. Being a part of the Phillies fan base led me to factor in several other things into these scenarios as well. These factors include the need for youth, upgrades in certain positions, money etc. Therefore, I created a well-thought scenario that includes the following players: 1B Ryan Howard, 3B Cody Asche, 3B/1B Maikel Franco, LF Dominic Brown, LF Dustin Ackley and 1B Billy Butler. The scenario works like this: You trade Ryan Howard to an American League team for $5 million dollars relief (the Phils pay $55 million), then sign Billy Butler to a 3-year $20 million dollar deal, then move Asche to LF, and put Franco at 3B to man. Lastly, you complete the scenario with Brown being traded to Seattle for Dustin Ackley in a change of scenery type deal. Ackley would then be placed on the bench as a reserve. By doing this, you get youth, as well as upgrades at 1B, 3B, and LF. Butler should be able to produce better numbers than Howard, especially if he starts to hit like he did in 2012, and proves this past season was a fluke. Maikel has the ability to do more than Asche, and Asche should do the same compared to Brown. And, not only are you injecting youth into the lineup and bench (Butler 28, Asche 24, Franco 22, Ackley 26), and trading two under-producing players, you aren't paying very much money for the four players who can produce up to about 70 homers, and 240 RBI's next season. Because of this, this scenario would improve the team immensely. But to think about this team's potential if it were to also sign Tomas also just jumps out to you....So....the question is this: IS Butler an "option"?