While the Phillies chose to lock up several members of their championship core in recent years, including Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels, they opted to move on from Victorino, 32.
Victorino isn't holding any grudges.
"You can't look into that kind of stuff," he said. "It just was something that wasn't meant to be, I guess. I don't sit there and ponder on it or look at it . . . It's part of the business and I understand that."
Victorino admitted he pressed a bit as a pending free agent in 2012. He hit .255 with a .321 OBP and .704 OPS, all were the lowest numbers since becoming an everyday player in 2006.
The 2012 season, of course, was forgettable for most of a Phillies team that struggled without Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.
"We all denied it," Victorino said, "but then it got to a point where yeah, we understood that missing the three and four hitters, not even on the field, but their presence in the clubhouse, their presence in the dugout and their presence in the lineup . . . We struggled and it showed."
Although he's wearing a different shade of red, Victorino is in a similar situation with the Red Sox. Both teams are attempting to regain statuses as one of the power teams in their respective league; Boston hasn't made the playoffs since 2009.
"I'm not going to forget them, forget the greater part of eight seasons I spent there," Victorino said. "I'm still close with those guys and I still stay in touch with them. I want nothing but success for them, I want them to do good. Hopefully we'll see them at the end."
Halladay not on the bus
Roy Halladay hasn't pitched more than an inning in a game since March 12. His next start, Saturday in Clearwater, will come in a minor league game at the Carpenter Complex and not in Sarasota against Baltimore because the Phils want the righthander to avoid the germs that come from traveling. Really.
"I don't want to put him on a bus," pitching coach Rich Dubee said of the hourlong ride to Sarasota. "Think of how many germs are running through a bus. It's like getting on a plane. Why put a guy on a bus when he's going to drive down there in a contained structure and he's trying to get over a flu bug? He's already lost 8-10 pounds. So I'm going take him down the road an hour, hour and a half on a bus? Not doing it."
Halladay left his start Sunday in Clearwater with a stomach illness. He has a 6.75 ERA (9 earned runs in 12 innings) in five starts this spring.
Halladay is set to make the final start of the Grapefruit League season Thursday. That would put him in line to pitch in the second game of the regular season, April 3.
Philly roots
Shane Victorino wasn't the only player with Philly roots in the home clubhouse at jetBlue Park. Red Sox reliever Andrew Bailey grew up in Haddon Heights, N.J., and played at Paul VI High in Haddon Township.
Bailey, who went to the All-Star Game and won Rookie of the Year honors while with Oakland in 2009, is one of a trio of South Jersey products in the American League. Mike Trout (Millville High, Millville, N.J.) was South Jersey's second AL Rookie of the Year in four seasons last year with the Los Angeles Angels while lefthander Sean Doolittle (Shawnee High, Medford, N.J.) was a key cog in Oakland's bullpen during the A's improbable AL West title run last season.
"It's awesome," said Bailey, a former closer who will likely pitch in the eighth inning this year for Boston. "Hopefully it gives the kids there in small towns the hope that they can make it. When I was growing up, it was Blaine Neal. We'd see his dad around the American Legion fields and, we'd be like, 'Hey, that's Blaine Neal's dad.' So it's cool to see."
Neal (Bishop Eustace Prep; Pennsauken, N.J.) won a World Series ring with the Florida Marlins in 2003.
Phillers
Lefthander Adam Morgan has been summoned back from minor league camp to start for the Phillies on Friday against Atlanta in Clearwater. The Phils often reward a prospect late in camp with a start in a Grapefruit League game. . . . Delmon Young took part in outfield and baserunning drills in Clearwater. Young, who had microfracture surgery on his right ankle in November, only began running about a week ago. He is expected to begin the season on the disabled list and join the Phillies in mid-to-late April . . . Tim Hudson was named Atlanta's Opening Day starter. Hudson will pitch opposite Cole Hamels on April 1 at Turner Field. Lefthander Paul Maholm and righthander Kris Medlen will follow Hudson in the three-game series against the Phillies.
On Twitter: @ryanlawrence21
