An unseasonably warm weekend here in the Delaware Valley, and the revving up of the Phillies caravan – destination Clearwater – has me putting winter in the rearview mirror even as we flirt with bad weather for the next couple of weeks.

Here are some subplots to consider as the Phillies head south:

Nomar? Grudzielanek? Aurilia? How about Andruw?

The Phillies remain patient in terms of adding a righthanded bat to the team. Nomar is an option, but he is apparently wishy-washy about even playing. Mark Grudzielanek hits for average and can play the middle infield positions competently, but won’t be able to spell anyone in the OF.

How about Andruw Jones? He won’t sign a minor league deal, and it also looks like something north of the league minimum is going to be required to sign him. According to scouts, he’s overweight and lost at the plate. So he isn’t exactly a sure thing, but what about bringing him in for a workout and a physical and offering him a major league contract around $1 million or so and see if they can snag him? This is a low risk, high reward play, with a manager who knows a thing or 2 about hitting.

The 5th Starter

One of the things I like about Ruben Amaro Jr. is that he speaks pretty plainly about his intentions. You don’t need your Andy Reid decoder ring when reading his quotes. Amaro has made it clear that the 5th starter will come down to Kyle Kendrick, J.A. Happ, Carlos Carrasco, and Chan Ho Park. Kendrick has the most to prove of the group, as he went from a guy who was secure going into last spring training to a guy who was left off the playoff roster during the Phils’ World Series run. Can he start missing more bats? Can we watch one of his starts without biting our nails down to the nubs?

I like J.A. Happ to make a strong run at the spot, although he could wind up providing the Phils with another LH option of the pen while J.C. Romero serves his 50 game suspension.

Ryan Howard

Howard’s arbitration case will be wrapped up within the week. Win or lose, Ryan will be getting a big raise despite delivering mixed results in 2008. He’s been focusing on his defense in the offseason, which he’ll need to improve in order to land that massive contract he thinks he deserves.

Chase Utley

Will Chase be back as quickly as he thinks? Will the Phillies slow his return even if he thinks he is ready? Who will get those innings at second if he isn’t ready by April?

Raul Ibanez

I suspect many of us will have our eyes trained on Raul Ibanez. Is his defense better than Pat Burrell’s, despite metrics that suggest they are equally bad defenders? Will Ibanez be able to continue to hit lefties well, thereby diminishing the concerns about the Phillies lineup being unbalanced?

Questions aside, this is a great week. Baseball is on its way back.