The following editorial is contributed by PRO Rumors staff writer Kevin Scobee:

Take one look at the current roster of the Philadelphia Phillies and it’s hard to imagine how that group of talent isn’t still playing in the World Series. Now before the “see, baseball isn’t played on a computer!” crowd gets all puffy-chested, let us all understand that postseason play in baseball has more to do with chance, luck, circumstance, and just playing well as a team at the right time, than it does many other things. Which Philly was not. (I know, I know, what could I possibly know, I live in my mom’s basement. I got it.)

But the curious case of the Phillies doesn’t come so much from their postseason collapse with a pretty obviously superior roster, it comes from what they did to that roster moving forward towards next season.

While Philadelphia did have things set-up pretty nicely for them this year, we heard all season long how the acquisition of super-stud pitcher Roy Halladay, and his subsequent contract extension, set them up beautifully for a sort of “dynasty run” given that they play in the weaker National League. Their power lineup with on-base machines and smart players gave them the offense to compete with the upper teams in the AL, and their pitching led by Halladay and Cole Hamels would allow them to shut-down opposing attacks. Couple those things with the trade for Roy Oswalt at the deadline in July without giving up that much from their farm system and, well, that’s just a recipe for success if I’ve ever seen one.

There’s just one problem though: Ryan Howard’s contract extension.

While this franchise was loading up for not only this season, but thinking that the next three to four were in play as well – and why not, with Halladay and Hamels that’s a good start – Ruben Amaro went ahead and signed Howard to an extension. A massive extension. When he still had two years left on his current contract.

Huh?

Now at the time this signing was beaten to death pretty well from all major sports outlets. Some writers defended the deal – hey, look at all those RBIs! – but mostly the stat-geek objective crowd, hated it. With good reason.

Howard’s extension doesn’t kick-in until 2012. In the final year of the deal, 20-freaking-16, the first baseman will make a whopping $25 million. Yes, that’s a two, a five, with six zeros.

While the money and length of the contract itself is laughable because the Phillies were paying super- star money to a first baseman that isn’t even in the top-5 at his position in his own league, it’s the effect that contract would have on the far superior player, Jayson Werth.

Queue the story about how the Phillies “hope Jayson Werth will return for 2011.”

Are you kidding me? They hope Werth returns for 2011? In a story written by MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, he mentions that the star – yes, star – right fielder could fetch as much as “$15 million per season.”

In what crazy world is Howard worth five-to-ten million dollars more than Werth? Ruben Amaro’s apparently.

Let’s look at this objectively and not from the standpoint of “he’s a home-grown player” and the “fans really identify with him” because that kind of talk is just white noise masking the truth.

Howard’s WAR for the last four seasons*, 2007-2010, look like this: 4.1, 3.1, 4.8, 2.

*In fairness to Howard, well whatever fairness I’m willing to give to him that doesn’t derail my overall point; in 2006 he did rack up a 6.5 WAR. However Werth didn’t play in 2006 so I choose not to go back that far. Hey, it’s my editorial, I’ll make the rules.

Werth’s WAR for the last four seasons: 3.2, 5.1, 4.9, 5.

Werth is one of the very best right fielders in baseball. He finished tied for fifth in WAR this season with Jason Heyward, and there’s little reason to think he won’t finish around there again next year. Meanwhile Howard is one of the very average first baseman in baseball finishing tied for 16th in WAR. Yet somehow, somehow, the Phillies hand Howard huge dollars and a contract extention, with two years left on his current deal, and they’re left “hoping” Werth returns for another shot at the World Series.

Baffling.

Next thing you’re going to tell me is that the reason the Phillies are souring on Werth is from some nonsense reason like not being “clutch” enough with runners in scoring position.

“Jayson had a good year. It wasn’t an extraordinary year,” Amaro said. “He had a tough time with men in scoring position. It wasn’t as productive a year as he had in the past. If he is not with us, there are players that we can acquire and or we have in our own organization that can help us be as consistent.”

Oh what a crazy world Ruben Amaro lives in.