This off season will be interesting for the Phillies. There are a lot of questions about their own free agents and others. They have a few tough decisions on their own players including Werth and Durbin. Starting with Werth, Amaro said he would like to re sign him and they have the money but it could make it harder to sign others or improve other needs. He will be asking for a contract similar to what Matt Holliday got from San Fransisco. If they do re sign him they could move some other salaries to free up money like Blanton, Victorino which is unlikely or maybe Ibanez if they can find someone to take him. If he leaves which seems likely it could be difficult to replace him in free agency or by bringing up Brown who could need one more year before he is ready for the majors. They could make a trade for a big right handed hitter.

They also need to add a lefty reliever in free agency or two. There are a few options there like Affeldt from the Giants who could be a good fit, Pedro Feliciano from the Mets or maybe even Scott Downs who will be attractive to many others. My first choice would be Downs from Toronto who could be a good set up man or lefty specialist. Affeldt or Feliciano would be used strictly as a lefty specialist. They could also take a look at Balfour who is a righty from Tampa Bay. Durbin could be another option but he could get a bigger offer from another team.

Another need is back end of the rotation. They should strongly consider moving Blanton. Then they should move Kendrick either to long releif or minor leagues because he is not good as a starter. They should bring up Vance Worley who was solid in his two major league starts and could be a good back end of the rotation guy who will consistently keep them in games. Freeing up Blanton's 8 million and most likely losing werth could give them enough money to sign Lee. Romero's 4 million will also help. Lee has always wanted to be here since he left and according to an ESPN report he would prefer to sign here over New York or Texas even for less money. Amaro also knows he made a bad move by trading him and said they are not done looking for starters. Another report says that he is not sure he would sign with the Yankees who will likely offer him between 25-35 million per season. It could come down to the Rangers and Phillies if they clear up enough salary to do it. It could definetely happen but it will not be easy. If it did they would have Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Hamels which could be the best playoff rotation ever. They also will need to add an outfielder if Werth goes and maybe replace Ibanez.