When asked if Pedro Feliz will return next season, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.hedged a bit:
“More than anything else, we want to see what options may be out there for us and decide whether picking his option up is best suited for this club to try to move forward,” Amaro said. “He had a solid year for us. I like the man personally. He’s a great person and a great teammate, but I also believe in trying to improve and sometimes change can be for the better. It doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to, but it’s just something that we’re thinking about.”
If the Phillies choose to exercise his $500,000 buyout, they’ll have plenty of alternatives in the free-agent market. Adrian Beltre and Chone Figgins would both be upgrades offensively, with fine defensive reputations, to boot. Only thing is, they’ll certainly ask for more than the $5.5 million Feliz would make.