Phillies looking for more arms The free-agent market opened today. The team says its available money likely will go for pitching.

The Phillies still hope to accomplish what they need to accomplish before spring training.

They just can't accomplish everything they want to.

"The money we have, we basically have earmarked for pitching alone," Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said yesterday. "We're trying to get starting pitching and possibly some relief pitching. A lot of that depends on who the player is, and a lot of it depends on whether or not we can get something done."

Teams could begin making offers to free agents from other teams at 12:01 a.m. today. That means centerfielder Aaron Rowand and righthander Kyle Lohse have hit the open market, and neither is expected to re-sign with the Phillies.

"We'll be aggressive, but that doesn't mean we're going to sign anybody at 12:01," Amaro said. "Based on the guys we are targeting, it may have to play out for a while. It'll likely be a scenario where we'll have the market develop rather than sign these guys immediately."

The Phillies finished 2007 with a payroll that exceeded $100 million. It likely will be at least that in 2008, which could leave them with about $10 million to spend on players not in their system.

The Phillies have committed more than $68.5 million next season to Pat Burrell ($14 million), Brett Myers ($8.5 million), Jimmy Rollins ($8 million), Adam Eaton ($7.6 million), Chase Utley ($7.5 million), Jamie Moyer ($5.5 million), Tom Gordon ($5.5 million), J.C. Romero ($3.7 million), and Wes Helms ($2.1 million). That number includes $6 million still owed to long-departed Jim Thome.

It does not include the six players eligible for salary arbitration: Ryan Howard, Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, Jayson Werth, Julio Mateo and Eric Bruntlett. Howard and Lidge figure to be the most expensive of the six. Howard could make $7 million or more in arbitration. Lidge, who made $5.3 million last season, also could fetch $7 million.

Madson made $1.1 million last season; Mateo, $1 million; Werth, $850,000; and Bruntlett, $525,000. Madson and Werth could get considerable raises. Those six could push the payroll to more than $88 million.

Then there are the salaries for Shane Victorino, Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, Greg Dobbs, Carlos Ruiz and Chris Coste. Their salaries are relatively inexpensive because they don't have enough service time to qualify for arbitration. Still, those six and the other players with little service time - think Clay Condrey and J.D. Durbin - could push the payroll into the mid-$90 million range.