Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen will be out indefinitely due to a blood clot while blocking a shot in game 4 against Montréal last round. With game 1 tomorrow night in Pittsburgh, Steve Coates said on Comcast SportsNet, he doesn’t expect Timonen to return at any point for the remainder of the playoffs.

Timonen is easily the Flyers best defenseman, shutting down Alexander Ovechkin in the first round and the Kostitsyn brothers along with Alex Kovalev in the second round in Montréal. His absence leaves the door open for Lasse Kukkonen or Jaroslav Modry to make a return to the lineup.

Obviously the loss of the Flyers’ best defenseman is good news for Evgeni Malkin who was basically designated as the assignment for Timonen. In his absence, veteran defensemen Derian Hatcher (who is really more of a Crosby guy) and Timonen’s defensive partner Braydon Coburn will have to step up and take the load on the blue line in stopping the Penguins’ big three of the aforementioned Crosby, Malkin, and Marian Hossa.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images via Flyers website

10 million dollars is a lot of money. That almost sounds stupid it’s so obvious, but in the world of sports where players sign deals for over 100 million dollars seemingly every year, 10 million seems like chump change. But make no mistake about it, this is an exuberant amount of cash. And in this particular case of Ryan Howard, the money becomes even more as it is tied for the largest arbitration agreement in MLB history. The Phillies and Howard talked back and forth all off-season trying to get a deal done. The Phillies offered 7 million, Howard wanted 10. He got 10. Even though this was the first time the Phillies had been defeated in an arbitration hearing (previously 7-0), it eventually set in that this was probably a good thing. Nobody wanted the big man coming into the year angry at the organization following a 47 home run, 136 RBI 2007 season.

Howard was one of those players who somehow, someway, never got boo’ed. There are so few athletes, especially in Philadelphia, who receive applause no matter the situation. He struck out a record 199 times last year, and the crowd was still on his side. Can you think of a Philadelphia sports star that hasn’t been boo’ed? McNabb, yea right. Mike Richards, take a look at last year. Andre Iguodala, all you have to do is listen during the home playoff games this past year. The only player I can think of is Chase Utley; a man who has consistently hit over .300 in his short career, plays the game hard, and is known for his gritty determination and study of game film.

Why was Howard in the clear? Well, look at what he did in his first full season in 2006:

.313 average - 182 hits - 58 HR - 149 RBI - .659 slugging

Those numbers are off the charts and those numbers are what drove Jim Thome out of town. There’s no doubt that Thome was a great player and still is, but the opportunity to acquire a quality outfielder when we had young Ryan Howard waiting in the wings was too much to not bite at. So the deal was done and Howard, along with Utley and Rollins, had become the face of the Phillies franchise. He was our deep threat, our big man, and our MVP. That was 2006 though, this is a far different 2008.

Here’s Howard’s stats for last season in 2007 and his current stats in 2008:

2007:

.268 average - 142 hits - 47 HR - 136 RBI - .584 slugging

That’s a drop of 45 percentage point in his average, 40 less hits, 11 less long balls, 13 less RBI, and his slugging percentage went down 75 percentage points.

2008 (35 games):

.163 average - 20 hits - 6 HR - 6 RBI - .333 slugging

There’s no need to add up the drop in all his offensive categories, anyone can see the intense decline. Perhaps the most interesting thing is when people say, ‘the weather’s warm, he’s about to come around.” Phillies fans are still waiting and he hasn’t come around at all. This is a big man, a slugger, who hit .313 just 2 years ago. Now, it’s understandable that his average would dip a bit: pitchers know him now and understand where to pitch and when. But shouldn’t Howard’s learning curve started too? This year he’s struck out 49 times, on pace to shatter his own record, and there’s nobody to blame but himself. He looks fastball on so many out pitches, and misses it. He is unable to check his swing when he sees a slider coming through the zone, and ends up reaching for a ball way outside. Pitchers are hammering the ball inside and will continue until he proves he can lay off swinging at bad pitches or getting jammed.

I’m not saying to give up on the big man, that’s ridiculous. I’m not saying that he can’t turn it around this year; if he can get his average to what it was last year around .260, if you throw in his power numbers, that would be just fine. But he has to raise that average .100 points and he has no power right now. Can he turn it around? Yes. Does anything in his swing make me feel like he’ll turn it around? No.

Was 2006 a flash in the pan? That remains to be seen in the years to come. Heck, was 2007 a flash in the pan? Just 6 HR and 16 RBI mid way through May doesn’t cut it. Hitting over 30 points under the Mendoza line doesn’t cut it. Watching him hit has become predictable and frustrating for Phillies fans and I’m sure Howard himself. He’s going to continue to be pitched inside and with off speed pitches until he proves he can hit again. Until he proves anything, there’s no reason why this first baseman is immune to boo’s anymore.

10 million dollars is a lot of money. It’s also a lot of money to waste.

photo from daylife.com