Dec. 9 -- DAY 2: PREVIEW

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Morning, all. Welcome to Day 2 of the winter meetings from the Bellagio.

Lots to get to, starting with a rumor from the folks at Fox Sports that the Phils and Cardinals had some late-night trade talks surrounding an outfielder, likely Ryan Ludwick. As you know, the Phillies almost surely will need a left fielder to replace Pat Burrell, and the Cardinals have a surplus of outfielders (Ludwick, Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, Skip Schumaker, Brian Barton). St. Louis is looking for bullpen help, and the Phillies had the best bullpen in the NL last season. But acquiring one of the Cardinals' outfielders may cost the Phils someone like Ryan Madson, and I don't think that's a sacrifice they're willing to make. I get the impression the Phillies would be content to obtain a right-handed hitter (Juan Rivera?) to platoon in left field with lefty-swinging Greg Dobbs and Matt Stairs.

Anyway, we'll do some checking on additional Phillies-Cardinals chatter throughout the day.

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In honor of the location of these meetinngs, we've been referring to the Phillies' contingent as "Amaro's Eleven." Actually, though, the Phillies have a few more than 11 representatives here. Ruben Amaro Jr.'s crew includes David Mongtomery, Pat Gillick, Charlie Manuel, assistant GMs Scott Proefrock, Chuck LaMar and Benny Looper, senior advisor Charley Kerfeld, scouts Gordon Lakey, Jim Fregosi Jr., Mike Ondo and Howie Freiling, amateur scouting director Marti Wolever, farm director Steve Noworyta, administrative director Susan Ingersoll, director of travel Frank Coppenbarger, statistical analyst Jay McLaughlin, athletic trainer Scott Sheridan and assistant athletic trainer Mark Andersen.

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Bumped into former assistant GM Mike Arbuckle, and he's enjoying the 20-minute commute from his suburban Kansas City home to his office with the Royals. Arbuckle gets (and deserves) a lot of credit for his input in the drafting and development of many homegrown Phillies players, including Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Brett Myers, Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels.