Joe B. Cool

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Most players will tell you that they don't listen to the trade rumors, but Joe Blanton sounds like he actually might be telling the truth.

"I wouldn't know what to do if they didn't come along," the veteran righthander said yesterday morning as he prepared for the first official workout of the spring.

Blanton, after all, spent his early years with the Athletics, an organization that essentially serves as a starting-pitching assembly line for the rest of the sport. From Mark Mulder to Tim Hudson to Rich Harden to, this offseason, Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill, Oakland makes and the world takes. Last year, the signing of Cliff Lee precipitated a wave of reports that the Phillies were looking to unload Blanton and his $8.5 million salary. This year, two recent stories on ESPN.com said general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is again looking for takers.

All of this added another dimension to yesterday's announcement that the Phillies had signed Kyle Kendrick to a 2-year, $7.5 million contract extension, which essentially tacks on an extra guaranteed year at about $3.9 million to the 1-year, $3.585 million deal he signed in January to avoid arbitration. If the Phillies are comfortable with Kendrick entering 2013 as the fifth starter in their rotation - which would seem to be the case, given their decision to guarantee him nearly $4 million for next season - then logic suggests they would be comfortable doing likewise in 2012.

"Right now, if you line things up, he's probably looking [at a role as] a long man," Amaro said, "but it's not out of the realm of possibilities that he is one of our starters this year."

Still, it is difficult to envision a spot opening up for Kendrick via trade. Blanton is coming off a season in which he started just six games before an elbow injury caused him to miss the next 4 months, making it difficult to envision a team agreeing to take on a sizable portion of his $8.5 million salary. Although Blanton returned in mid-September to log eight innings in six appearances, one of which came in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, then traveled to Florida for two starts in the instructional league, even the Phillies acknowledge that he will remain something of a question mark until he gets back on the mound in regular rotation.