No real hard news from Phillies' front

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro offered little hard news after the first day of the winter meetings at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

He did say that he wouldn't let the apparently-stalled negotiations with lefthander Jamie Moyer stop him from pursuing other help for the starting rotation, almost seeming to throw down a gauntlet to the 46-year-old lefthander, who went 16-7 with a 3.71 earned run average, and agent Jim Bronner.

"There's nothing new on Moyer. It's kind of in a holding pattern, I guess. We're still in negotiations and trying to bring him back," Amaro said. "What the length of the discussion has done is opened us up to look at other avenues and do other things. That does not mean we do not want Jamie back. We would like to bring him back. But we also have to look at other ways to fill certain holes.

"If we have a deal in place and we feel it's going to bring us a pitcher that we feel is going to help us, we're not going to stop and we're not going to delay because Jamie Moyer has not been signed yet. Just like any other deal, if we feel there's a deal to be made and it's going to improve our club, we'll move forward on it. If there's a way to improve the club that presents itself, we're going to have to go ahead and move on it."

Amaro then softened the stance slightly by saying that, if the Phillies did acquire another pitcher, it wouldn't "necessarily" preclude also re-signing Moyer.

Said Bronner in a brief phone conversation: "I really don't want to discuss the negotiations."

Asked about a Daily News report that the Phillies have been doing background checks on Twins outfielder Delmon Young as a possible replacement for Pat Burrell, Amaro said: "We don't comment on other team's players."

He was also unwilling to discuss the possibility that manager Charlie Manuel, who is signed through next year with an option for 2010, will get an extension before the meetings break up on Thursday.