John Mayberry

In each of the last two springs, Domonic Brown had a chance to win a starting job. He batted 16 times in 2011 before a freak fracture of a bone in his wrist handed Ben Francisco right field. Last spring, Brown batted all of 20 times while hamstrung by thumb, neck, and knee ailments. John Mayberry Jr. started in left on opening day. This is not revisionist history. Was Brown guaranteed anything by the Phillies? Absolutely not. Did he do enough to secure anything? Definitely not. So, with a few weeks before camp opens, Brown stares down his third chance.

When the Phillies signed free-agent outfielder Delmon Young this week for a bargain-basement one-year guarantee of $750,000, it said a lot about the organization's willingness to take risk, about the sweet rewards of forgiveness, and it also spoke a volume about the team's real feeling concerning the future of Domonic Brown. Maybe Ruben Amaro Jr. had this move in his back pocket all along, and was just doing his homework to judge whether Young was still radioactive after a 2012 incident that included public drunkenness and an anti-Semitic rant directed toward a panhandler wearing a yarmulke and a Star of David on the streets of New York.

The plan for Delmon Young, as Ruben Amaro Jr. described it Tuesday, is bold. Young made just 29 starts in the outfield for Detroit last season, but Amaro wants him to be the everyday guy in right. That is a position he has not played in six years. He is not healthy; doctors performed microfracture surgery on an ankle 10 weeks ago and his availability for opening day is in doubt. The former No. 1 overall pick is 27 years old, with a name forever stained by anger-management issues that prompted his throwing a bat at an umpire and a drunken anti-Semitic rant.

There is no optimal scenario for building the Phillies outfield this late in winter. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. conceded as much Monday, when he suggested it is likely the team will use what it has. The risk is obvious. The Phillies could spend $1.5 million on their starting outfield while devoting $19 million to two relief pitchers. Of the current outfield quintuplet, only Ben Revere has ever logged more than 500 at-bats in a season. Amaro said the best-case scenario is pitting unproven players against one another with hopes that competition creates a viable outfield.

This is a post by Daily News staff writer David Murphy from the Phillies' blog, High Cheese: AS YOU MAY have read elsewhere, Ruben Amaro Jr. thinks that his offseason work is likely complete. Given the options remaining on the free-agent market, you can't blame him for feeling that way. I still would not be surprised if the Phillies landed a righthanded power bat like Scott Hairston, but any such player is likely to be a part-time player who struggled against righthanded pitching while mashing lefties.

The likelihood of a hodgepodge Phillies outfield consisting of Ben Revere, Domonic Brown, John Mayberry Jr., Darin Ruf, and Laynce Nix increases daily. The man tasked with forming the 2013 roster was willing to admit as much Monday. "We're likely going with what we've got," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. Spring training begins Feb. 12 in Clearwater, Fla., and the Phillies will arrive with hopes pinned to an aging, expensive core. Youth is the choice in the outfield, for better or worse.

This is an excerpt from a post on the Daily News Phillies blog, High Cheese. ON SATURDAY, Cody Ross found a new home. The well-traveled, useful, righthanded-hitting outfielder signed a 3-year, $26 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Less than 24 hours later, fellow free agent Nick Swisher also came off the market. Cleveland signed Swisher, a switch-hitter with power and a strong plate discipline, to a 4-year, $56 million deal. The contract includes a vesting option that can push the contract to 5 years, $70 million.

THE BULK of the work is finished, with a third baseman (Michael Young), a centerfielder (Ben Revere), a setup man (Mike Adams) and a fifth starter (John Lannan) all outfitted in Phillies red before Christmas. But Ruben Amaro Jr. isn't finished with his offseason shopping, even if he did allow the possibility of going to spring training in 2 months with the current roster. "It's very possible that we have the answers internally," Amaro said of what would appear to be a glaring need for a reliable, productive, veteran bat for the outfield.

This apparently is introduction week at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies staged an offseason doubleheader Tuesday by first announcing the official signing of lefthander John Lannan, who was introduced during an early afternoon media session inside the team's Christmas-themed clubhouse. Late in the day, new third baseman Michael Young slipped on red pinstripes for the first time. He'll be wearing No. 10 in 2013. Later this week, we will likely meet Young's former Texas Rangers teammate Mike Adams, who has agreed to a two-year, $12 million deal to be closer Jonathan Papelbon's setup man next season.

Nate Schierholtz's short stay in Philadelphia is likely over. According to an ESPN.com report, the Phillies informed Schierholtz that he would not be offered a contract for 2013. All major league teams have until 11:59 p.m. Friday to decide whether to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players. The only other Phillies player who is arbitration eligible is reliever Antonio Bastardo, who will be tendered a contract for 2013. After coming over in the July 31 trade that sent Hunter Pence to San Francisco, the 28-year-old Schierholtz hit .273 with one home run in 37 games with the Phillies.