Paul Hagen: Moyer making Phillies' decision on fifth starter difficult

CLEARWATER, Fla. - These things have a way of taking care of themselves, the baseball elders like to say. And they're usually right. The manager and coaches have to make Solomonic decisions way less often than you might suspect.

The Phillies' tug of war for the fifth starter's spot figured to be one of those situations. On paper, it was a jump ball between Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick, with a close call going to the veteran.

Nobody honestly expected it to come to that, though. Moyer is 47 years old. He's coming off three offseason surgeries and a blood infection. This was one of those snarls that (wink, wink) would untangle itself.

Moyer apparently didn't get the memo. And now, just 2 weeks from the day the Phillies will open yet another season at Nationals Park in Washington, it's becoming increasingly possible that the Phillies might have to confront . . . (insert creepy organ music here) . . .

The Jamie Problem.

Moyer made his first Grapefruit League appearance yesterday. Coming off a "B'' game against the Toronto Blue Jays in which he was knocked around pretty good, another shaky appearance could have pretty much settled the matter.

So, of course, Moyer allowed one run on five hits in five innings during a 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Bright House Field.

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody who has contemplated the veteran lefthander's body of work, of course. He's been written off more often than a three-martini lunch. He was offered a coaching job as a golden parachute. That was in 1992. From 1990 through '96, he played for seven different organizations. He was 6-12 for the Mariners when traded to the Phillies late in the 2006 season. He's 47-31 since.

Neither pitching coach Rich Dubee nor manager Charlie Manuel said anything about Moyer yesterday that would indicate he has eliminated himself. So if the Phillies had to get off the fence today, he'd probably be the guy.

Here's the issue, though.

What if Moyer continues to pitch well enough but the Phillies, deep in their hearts, think they're better off with Kendrick starting every fifth day?

At that point, they have a few options, and none is particularly appealing.

The most likely scenario would be to respect Moyer's 258 big-league wins and 20 years of service time and the $8 million he's still owed and his local roots and his legacy of good works in the community. They would ask Kendrick to be patient, probably stash him in the bullpen. They would put Moyer on a short leash, much like they did with Chan Ho Park last year.

Problem: In a perfect world, teams are supposed to field the team that gives them the best chance to win every game. And while it remains possible that they will conclude in the next couple of weeks that starting Moyer fulfills that stipulation, it's not unheard of for other factors to enter the decision-making process.

And even a team that has won three straight division championships and been to the World Series each of the last 2 years has to bear in mind that losses in April and May can be costly in September. Or . . .

If they conclude that they must give Kendrick the nod, they could put Moyer in the bullpen.

Problem: He doesn't view himself as a reliever. And even though he pitched well enough in that role (1.93 ERA in five appearances) after being taken out of the rotation last season, the fact that he probably can't pitch back-to-back days and ideally needs plenty of time to warm up before he comes into a game doesn't make him a great fit. Or . . .

They could trade Moyer. That would be a dignified solution for all concerned. And, yes, there are probably a number of teams that would be interested, especially if the Phillies picked up a good part of the salary and didn't ask for much in return.

Moyer remains an icon in Seattle. He's still the franchise's all-time leader in wins. And the Mariners, who see themselves as a contending team, had question marks at the back end of their rotation even before Cliff Lee came down with the lower- abdominal injury that could sideline him for a while.

The Detroit Tigers are in a similar situation after Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello. The Nationals might see Moyer as the perfect mentor to Stephen Strasburg and their other young pitching prospects.

Problem: The Phillies don't have a lot of starting depth. If they trade Moyer, who will they turn to when the inevitable need for another starter arises? Jose Contreras has started in the past, but he was signed to strengthen the bullpen. And, until somebody at Lehigh Valley proves otherwise, there are no attractive options at Triple A.

The front office would also have to work around the fact that Moyer has a limited no-trade clause.

All of this could have worked itself out if Moyer had just acted his age. Anybody who's watched him over the years shouldn't be surprised that he hasn't.

Send e-mail to hagenp@phillynews.com