Maybe I'm soft on players who show up for work every day carrying a lunch pail, keep a low profile and drive in 82 runs batting in the No. 7 spot most of the time behind a home-run assembly line. Feliz is on the short list of really outstanding defensive third basemen. To match his strong and accurate arm at the position around here, you have to go back to some guy named Scott Rolen.
The vox populi have latched on to Adrian Beltre as the early-line favorite to be courted by Amaro & Co. in the coming free-agent spendathon. There is a strong Seattle connection in special adviser Pat Gillick, who was a front-office adviser when the Mariners signed Beltre as a free agent in 2004 after he slugged 48 homers, drove in 121 runs and batted .334 for the Dodgers. So, was it cavernous Safeco Field or something else that caused Adrian to hit like Yo, Adrian, a plummet to 19 homers, 87 RBI and a .255 average the year after the Mariners dropped a 5-year, $64 million contract in his lap? Last Aug. 12, Beltre was hit in a very personal place by a bad-hop grounder during a game and missed the rest of the month. Summing up, does going after a notable free-agent flop recovering from a flaw in his family jewels sound like the kind of sharp business decision the Phillies have been making? I don't think so.
Amaro more likely will pursue Mark DeRosa, 35 in February, as the centerpiece of an overhauled bench. Charlie Manuel is said to love the versatility and intensity of the former Penn quarterback. And Dave Montgomery probably would welcome a Quaker alum to counter all the Stanford men in his organization.
When I'm King of the World . . .
