My Phillies Off-Season Outlook

Well, count it out, 2 years since the parade. While the Phillies won 97 games, had baseball's best record, won a fourth straight division title, and finally swept a post-season series, they did not get to a third straight World Series, let alone win a second. They ran into a team who did not have a better rotation or line-up, but instead had a better 1-25 man roster, a team that did all the little things right to beat them. Now facing the reality of not being the only big dog in the National League, the Phillies come to a very pivotal off-season.

The Phillies cannot stand pat and expect things to change for them. That's not possible, and even Phillies.com's off-season predictions says it won't happen. The Phillies open the off-season with $146.85 million dollars committed to 16 players, more than last year's payroll. The current roster looks like this:
Catchers- Ruiz ($2.75 million), Schneider ($1.5 million)
Infielders- Howard ($20 million), Utley ($15 million), Rollins ($8.5 million), Polanco ($5.25 million, plus a $500,000 signing bonus), Gload ($1.6 million)
Outfielders- Ibanez ($11.5 million), Victorino ($7.5 million)
Starting Pitchers- Halladay ($20 million), Oswalt ($16 million), Hamels ($9.5 million), Blanton ($8.5 million)
Relievers- Lidge ($11.5 million), Madson ($4.5 million), Baez ($2.75 million)
Arbitration Eligible- Francisco (Estimated in the $1 million to $1.5 million range), Kendrick (Estimated in the $2 million to $2.5 million range).
Under Club Control- Brown, Bastardo, Herndon
Free Agents they'd like to keep: Werth, Contreras, Durbin, Valdez, Moyer (possibly)
Unlikely to return- Romero, Sweeney, Dobbs

FREE AGENTS THEY COULD CHASE- Cliff Lee, Pat Burrell, Brad Hawpe, Magglio Ordonez, Javier Vasquez, Scott Downs, Jeremy Affeldt, Brian Fuentes

WHAT TO WATCH FOR- Do the Phillies have enough money to realistically keep Werth, let alone chase Lee? Well, yes and no. No as is, they simply won't pay out $175 million next year. Yes, if they move someone. So, will they try and move a contract out of town? They could potentially try and move any number of players. I'm sure they'd love to part ways with the Ibanez or Blanton contract, but they'd either have to take lesser prospects or eat more money, or both, to trade them. They could put a Victorino type of player on the market, if they'd like, but it's not easy to part ways with such an important piece, so they'd have to get a lot back. Remember that in addition to the big names they will chase, the Phillies have other needs too. They need a dominant left-handed reliever, as well as some other guys you can trust in the 7th inning, including their own Contreras and Durbin (who they should keep at least one of). They need a right-handed bat with pop off the bench, or at least someone who can spot their lefty corner outfielders in addition to Francisco. They'd love to keep Valdez around, as he plays stellar defense all over the infield. All this leads me to believe we should watch the trade world. Already, the rumors that they will go get Aaron Rowand from San Francisco is out there. I like it. He'd be a nice 300 AB guy, and he'd benefit from our park. Don't be shocked if the Phillies are all over the trade market in the coming weeks. The Phillies need not improve their top shelf talent, which is as good as any team's, but they need to improve their roster depth, and be more complete.