"One hundred percent," the outfielder said yesterday.

Is the feeling mutual?

"Well," he said, "we'll see."

If you believe in action over rhetoric, the answer would be "no." And yesterday, Burrell addressed the very real possibility that his 8-year career with the Phillies could be drawing to a close.

On a team with two players who have won league MVPs and another who seems destined to, he is no longer the hotshot wunderkind racing toward stardom. He is 31 years old, entering the last year of a 6-year, $50 million contract, looking at an uncertain future.

The two sides have not talked contract extension. The past couple seasons, trade talk has swirled around his name.

For the first time since he finished his junior season at Miami as one of the greatest hitters in college baseball history, he has no idea what the future holds.

Scary? Sobering? Intimidating?

"Sometimes it's kind of exciting," Burrell said, leaning back in a black office chair among a throng of reporters in the Phillies clubhouse. "At the same time, I'm just trying to take everything in perspective . . . "

For 25 minutes yesterday, Burrell calmly addressed his past, present and future as it relates to the city of Philadelphia. He was thoughtful at times, philosophical at others.

Eight years into his career, it's still difficult to find the proper perspective through which to view the man who at one point was cast as a franchise's savior. On one hand are his 218 career home runs, fifth in Phillies history. By the end of the year, he'll likely move back Greg Luzinski (223) and Chuck Klein (243).

On the other hand are his .258 career average and numerous injuries.

In 2002, the year before he signed a 6-year contract extension that will earn him $14 million this year, he hit .282 with 37 home runs and 116 RBI. The following year, those numbers plummeted to .209, 21 and 64.

As the Phillies flirted with the playoffs for several years, coming up short each time, fans often chose Burrell as the subject at whom to vent.

"I think any time you deal with adversity and go through some of the things I have in this game, you've got two choices: You can let it beat you up or you can build from it and go forward," Burrell said. "Because you become not only a better player, but a better person, definitely more understanding. You always see certain players struggle. Sometimes you feel like you are all alone out there. Everybody who has played long enough has been through times where things aren't going right. I think it's a good thing."

But despite those struggles, and despite the grief he has received, Burrell still says it is hard to imagine playing anywhere else.

That might be hard to believe. He grew up in California and played collegiately in Florida. He has houses in Arizona and Clearwater.

But Burrell says there is something about Philly.

"I came up and was a first-round draft pick and there was a lot of hype and a lot of expectation, and I enjoyed that," Burrell said. "Have I also seen the other side of that? Absolutely. I've also played in other stadiums and seen reactions that other fans give their teams. In Philly when it's good, there is no better place. There is something different about the Northeast when it comes to baseball. There is an excitement there where they can't wait to jump on that team and support if the team is playing well. That goes both ways, but there are also places where I'm not sure if there's that big of a deal [regardless of whether] it's winning or losing."

Personally, Burrell has evolved over the course of his time in Philadelphia.

A notorious bachelor during his early days in the majors, he married his fiancee, Michelle, in November. His English Bulldog, Elvis, has grown to be 115 pounds.

But it remains to be seen what will become of his career.

Only once has his batting average improved in two straight seasons (from .209 to .257 to .281 from 2003-05). After hitting .281 with 32 home runs and 117 RBI in 2005, his batting average dropped to .258 in 2006 and .256 last year.

Yet, Burrell set a career high for walks last year (114) and a career low in strikeouts (120). He overcame a rough start, hitting .340 with 20 home runs from July 2 to Sept. 13 while serving as a chief impetus in the team's playoff run.

"Something just took over right around the All-Star break . . . where I really felt like I was building on something," Burrell said. "I was able to just carry it on."

The key, of course, is for Burrell to carry that second-half success into this season.

If he does?

"I could see him coming back next year," manager Charlie Manuel said. "I could."

For now, that's as much of a commitment as you are going to get out of the Phillies. Assistant general manager Ruben Amaro wasn't available yesterday to talk about Burrell's impending free agency, but there really isn't much to say.

"I'd love to come back," Burrell said. "It's really got more to do with the guys on the team than anything else . . . I think there are going to be a lot of good things for a long period of time . . . You want to be around a winning organization, and there's really not that many of them out there. So to have the foundation I have here and see the transformation of what's happened . . . absolutely [I want to come back]."

No doubt?

"No doubt." *

Paul Hagen contributed to this report.