#OnDeck: Who will play left field for the Phillies?

When the news broke on New Year's Eve that Ruben Amaro Jr. had dealt Marlon Byrd to the Reds, our first matter of business was to dissect the caliber of prospect the Phillies received in return.

But along with adding another young arm to the farm system and shedding a veteran's $8 million contract (and his quite-obtainable $8 vesting option for 2016), the deal also created an opening in a corner of the outfield. If Domonic Brown moves back to right field as it sounds like he may, that would leave left field as the open position in question.

Three players Amaro mentioned last week who could fill that gap are Grady Sizemore, Darin Ruf and Rule 5 selection Odubel Herrera, whose recent experience is in centerfield. The only other corner outfielders on the 40-man roster, 23-year-old Aaron Altherr and 24-year-old Kelly Dugan, are probably not yet ready for the majors.

Herrera, who at 23 fits the Phillies' stated goal of getting younger, will enter spring training as the most intriguing option. A natural second baseman who moved to the outfield late last season, he's been playing centerfield in Venezuelan winter ball (comparable to double A or triple A in terms of competition), during which he's hitting .372 with a .988 OPS for Tiburones de La Guaira.

While the Phillies say they want to give younger players opportunities to play, Altherr and Dugan would need big springs to prove their major-league readiness. The former has all of five big league at-bats under his belt and the latter has yet to play above double A. If they're not primed to make the jump, a nonroster invitee like Jeff Francoeur is the type of player who could serve as a placeholder on the roster until one of them (or another young outfielder) reaches the majors.

The Byrd trade certainly helped the chances of a guy like Franceour, who turned 31 today, to at least make the 25-man roster. The Sports Illustrated cover boy-turned-journeyman hasn't been an everyday major leaguer since 2012 but is an interesting case for the sheer fact that he was once a first-round draft pick who drove in more than 100 runs in consecutive seasons for the Braves. (And as you surely remember, he was also the victim of this epic prank last season while with the Padres' triple A club in El Paso.)

"A lot of it will depend on how he performs in spring training," Amaro said last week of Francoeur. "He's been around a long time. He's a veteran guy. He's not a young guy, but he's not old, either. … He'll get his opportunities and we'll see where it goes from there."

Sizemore, 32, is the favorite to at least platoon in left field, though he, too, doesn't exactly fit the youth criteria. Sixty 2014 games in which he hit .253 with a .701 OPS and played all three outfield positions were enough for the Phillies to bring him back on a one-year, $2 million deal, though. Perhaps a platoon of he and the 28-year-old Ruf?

All of this, of course, will come into focus throughout 32 games in Florida from March 1 to April 2.

Exactly six weeks 'til pitchers and catchers.