Photo Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Just a week after hearing that trade talks between the Angels and Phillies for Ben Revere were heating up, they’re dead. Like Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon before him (twice), a deal for Revere was close, but couldn’t get done. What was the problem? According to Todd Zolecki, the Phils “wanted at least one Minor League player in return, but the sides could not reach an agreement.” Instead, the Angels got Kirk Nieuwenhuis from the Mets for a bag of cash.

So who is the next Phillies to be tied to a team in a deal and not go anywhere? Ryan Howard. Howard’s name was bandied about by Orville Redenbacher cosplayer Ken Rosenthal as a possible replacement for the St. Louis Cardinals’ injured first baseman Matt Adams. Howard is from Missouri (and we just saw Jeremy Maclin go back to MO) and is putting up pretty solid numbers against what was expected of him this year. But do Cardinals fans want him? The fanbase voted most likely to break their hand patting themselves on the back by me just now doesn’t seem to be interested.

Over at Viva El Birdos, SB Nation’s Cardinals blog, writer Joe Schwarz laid out of hefty argument for “no thanks” on a Howard trade. Howard has said in the past that “there is always a chance” that he may go back to St. Louis and “it would definitely be on [his] top three list.” For right now however, the Cards are sticking with veteran utility player Mark Reynolds, whose .253/.321/.725 line in 2015 compared favorably to Howard’s .256/.298/.817. If something happens to him though, or the Cardinals decide they need a better option, you’d have to think Howard would be near the top of their list.