Amaro: Phillies likely going with what weve got

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We hope nobody in our audience was holding their breath
while waiting for the Phillies to add a corner outfielder. And assuming you
weren’t, you probably shouldn’t start now.

Ruben Amaro Jr. told the Inquirer’s Matt Gelb that the
Phillies are likely finished making moves this offseason, leaving unsettled
situations in left and right field as the team prepares to make the journey to
Clearwater.

Spring training gets underway when pitchers and catchers report
on February 12. Once the full roster assembles, Domonic Brown, John Mayberry,
Laynce Nix, and Darin Ruf will all have an opportunity to state their case for
playing time in 2013 admits the general manager – and that presumes Ben Revere
has an everyday role in center on lockdown.

"There's some risk in going with a possible double
platoon or letting the guys we have battle it out for playing time," Amaro
said. "There are some advantages to that, as well. The best-man-wins type
of scenario can be created and likely will be created in spring training. At
the same time, a lot of these guys are not proven everyday major-league
players. But that doesn't mean they cannot become them."

At this point, the free agent market has been almost picked
clean. The top outfielder remaining is Michael Bourn, but the Phillies would
prefer somebody who hits for power. The next-best option is Scott Hairston,
another platooner.

That leaves a trade as quite possibly the only means left of
upgrading the outfield. The organization didn’t seem too keen on the deals that
were on the table however, the most notable of which would have sent Brown to
the Chicago Cubs for Alfonso Soriano.

According to Gelb, Amaro isn’t ruling out any options, but
he certainly sounds resigned to the idea that this is what the Phillies are
going with. The good news is they have some quality, young talent that might be capable of
producing a breakthrough season. Unfortunately, fans simply can’t count on it.

>> Phillies probably done making moves [Inq]

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