The team has until Monday to exercise a $5.5 million contract option on Feliz for the 2010 season.
“More than anything else, we want to see what options may be out there for us and decide whether picking his option up is best suited for this club to try to move forward,” Amaro said.
“He had a solid year for us,” Amaro said. “I like the man personally. He's a great person and a great teammate, but I also believe in trying to improve, and sometimes change can be for the better. It doesn't necessarily mean we're going to, but it's just something that we're thinking about.”
Feliz, 34, is a top defensive player but a subpar hitter. In 2009, he batted .266, with a .308 on-base percentage and .386 slugging percentage.
Amaro could pursue a trade. The general managers' meetings in Chicago begin Monday, which may give Amaro time to talk with executives from other teams before making a decision on Feliz's option.
The Phillies' general manager also could replace Feliz with a free agent, although teams have a 15-day window to negotiate exclusively with their free agents. Of the potential third basemen on the market, three are possible fits for the Phils: Seattle's Adrian Beltre, the Los Angeles Angels' Chone Figgins, and St. Louis' Mark DeRosa.
Because the Angels figure to aggressively pursue Figgins and DeRosa is 34, the 30-year-old Beltre stands out. A strong defender with a power bat, Beltre is coming off a five-year, $64 million contract.
Injuries limited Beltre to 111 games and eight home runs in 2009, but that performance might have made him affordable to the Phillies.
Amaro was vague Friday when discussing payroll flexibility, but the team is unlikely to add significant money to a payroll that exceeded $130 million last season.
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