Utley getting contract extension

AROUND 4:15 p.m. yesterday, Roy Halladay said that his top priority for next season is to play somewhere he could win. Around 4:17 p.m., he invoked the name of Chase Utley when explaining why he still thought Philadelphia could be such a place.

"I see a lot here, I really do," said Halladay, who will take the next significant step in his return from mid-May surgery on his right shoulder on Saturday when he pitches in a simulated game in Clearwater, Fla.

The Phillies are about to wager a sizable chunk of money that Halladay is correct. At the start of last night's 5-2 loss to the Cubs, the club was putting the finishing touches on a multiyear contract extension for Utley that several reports pegged in the neighborhood of $13 million to $15 million annually.

While the deal ensures that one of the most popular players in franchise history will remain with the team through at least 2015 (FoxSports.com reported it is a 2-year deal with multiple vesting options), it also enhances the possibility that the Phillies return a lineup that looks similar to the one that has struggled throughout the 2013 season.

"I love Philadelphia. I've always envisioned playing here," Utley said. "I've never envisioned playing anywhere else."

Once Utley is officially in the fold, the Phillies will have five of their Opening Day regulars returning in 2014, including shortstop Jimmy Rollins, first baseman Ryan Howard, leftfielder Domonic Brown and centerfielder Ben Revere. Four of those players are lefthanded hitters, and the fifth, Rollins, is a switch-hitter who has struggled from the right side of the plate over the last 3 years. Likely to be joining them is rookie third baseman Cody Asche, who was mentioned by Halladay as a reason to think the Phillies can contend next year (the 23-year-old is also a lefty).

"We know what kind of player Utley is," said manager Charlie Manuel, whose contract expires after this season. "We know how he can play and what he means to us."

Aside from Yankees franchise star Robinson Cano, Utley is far and away the best second baseman who would have been available on the free-agent market this year. With 15 home runs and a .277/.337/.505 batting line, the 34-year-old is having his best season since 2009, when he slugged 31 home runs with a batting line of .282/.397/.508. That was also the last season that Utley avoided a serious injury. He played in 115 games in 2010, missing time with a torn ligament in his thumb, and missed the start of the 2011 and 2012 seasons with a knee condition that the club says has not affected him this season (he played in 103 games in '11, 83 in '12).

This year, Utley played in 44 of the Phillies' first 45 games before straining an oblique muscle that sent him to the disabled list for a month. Last night was just the second time he was out of the starting lineup since his return from the DL, a stretch in which he started 38 games with eight home runs and a .278/.333/.536 line in 151 at-bats. He hit a game-tying RBI single as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the seventh last night and later obliterated Cubs catcher Dioner Navarro in a collision at home plate (Utley was out; Navarro was carted off the field with an apparent leg injury).

"He's pretty much the face of the franchise," said Cole Hamels, who allowed two runs in seven innings last night. "He's done things right since he first got here. He's the typical Philly athlete and Philly ballplayer. He maxes out every day, and I have to give him credit, because that's what's fun to watch."

There is no doubt that Utley remains one of the game's best offensive second basemen. Since his knee problems first caused him to miss time in 2011, he ranks third among major league second baseman with a .799 OPS. The question of whether the Phillies can contend will be answered more by the players around him.

One of those players could be Halladay, who thus far has had a seamless recovery from arthroscopic surgery to repair a shoulder that would have ended the seasons of most normal pitchers. A lot has changed since that May 15 procedure. At the time, the veteran righthander was hoping for a speedy recovery so he could rejoin the playoff push in late August or early September. But Halladay has not allowed the Phillies' dismal performance in his absence to slow down his timetable. On Saturday, he will attempt to take another significant step in his recovery by pitching in a 75-pitch simulated game at the Phillies' spring training complex in Clearwater, Fla.

Halladay did not rule out an appearance in an official rehab start as his next step. He said he has not targeted a specific date for his return to the majors; he sounds to be on track for a return in the first week of September, barring interruption.

"I'm not interested in coming back and pitching at the same level I was early this year," Halladay said. "I want to come back and pitch at a high level."

Halladay will be a free agent at the end of the season, the first time in his career that he will play out the end of a contract. At 36, he is 2 years removed from his last dominant campaign. After logging 233 2/3 innings with a 2.35 ERA and finishing second in NL Cy Young voting in 2011, Halladay battled through reduced range of motion in his shoulder, posting a 4.49 ERA in 156 1/3 innings in 2012 before imploding this season. Yesterday, though, he said he was "optimistically cautious" that he could return to pitch effectively.

"Really, for myself, to come back and say, 'Hey, this is something I could overcome,' that means more than anything," Halladay said. "I'm not coming back to try to get a contract for next year, a bigger contract, anything like that. I just want to come back and pitch. After that, hopefully make a decision on where I can win. I hope that's here."

If it is, Utley will be a part of it.

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese