Amaro: Phils will give Brown shot to win job

WYOMISSING - Whether this is lip service or the truth is to be determined sometime in March in Clearwater, Fla. But Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said yesterday that while he believes Domonic Brown would benefit from more sustained playing time in the minor leagues, Brown will have a chance to win the leftfield job away from John Mayberry Jr. this spring.

"He could surprise all of us and come with guns a-blazing and win a job at the major league level this year out of spring training," Amaro said. "Right now, I believe it's Mayberry's job to kind of lose, but at the same time, we'll keep our minds and eyes open and see what happens with Dom this spring and see how he handles being in leftfield and making that adjustment.

"I've seen stranger things happen," Amaro said. "He's a very talented kid."

When the Phillies acquired Hunter Pence last July, Brown lost his rightfield spot and the transition to leftfield was begun. He played 27 games there with Lehigh Valley. When Amaro brought up Brown in both 2010 and 2011, he warned everyone that the kid was not a finished product, and he says he still isn't finished. At the same time, he says he is willing to let it play out this spring.

"Honestly, he was playing pretty good baseball [last year]," Amaro said. "He wasn't overmatched or anything when we made the trade for Hunter Pence. We just felt like Hunter was a better fit for us at the time. We're just kind of waiting on him to come and be the guy that he's going to be.

"He's got a chance to be an impact type of a player. I think he just needs to benefit from some more at-bats."