FanHouse Phillies

Considering that the Phillies made a few changes to their lineup in 2009 after winning a World Series, it shouldn't really come as a surprise that the 2010 version of the team will look a bit different as well. It was announced by the team on Sunday that they would not be picking up the option on third baseman Pedro Feliz, who will now become a free agent.

This does not mean that Feliz won't be back with the Phillies next season, it just means that he won't be back at the price of $5.5 million. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. did say that he wouldn't rule out re-signing Feliz this winter in the team's official statement regarding the Feliz option.

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After eight seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, 29-year-old pitcher Brett Myers will reportedly be playing for a new team in 2010. According to Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Myers has been told by Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., that he will definitely not be a Phillie next season. The report also states that Myers wasn't given a specific reason that he won't return.

Myers has spent his entire professional career in the Philadelphia organization after being selected in the first round in the 1999 draft. He went 73-63 with a 4.40 ERA and added 21 saves during his time in Philly.

The champagne is barely dry in the Yankees clubhouse, but the business of 2010 is already well under way. Three trades are in the books, a number of players have already filed for free agency and Bobby Abreu has a new deal with the Angels.

In that vein, three clubs made decisions on contract options Friday as they held on to star players for next year. The Phillies and Diamondbacks both picked up the options they held on ace pitchers Cliff Lee and Brandon Webb, respectively, while the White Sox bought out right fielder Jermaine Dye.

Chicago's World Series MVP in 2005, Dye, who will turn 36 in January, was due to make $12 million in 2010. He'll instead receive $950,000 from the White Sox and hit the open market.

NEW YORK -- This was not the type of World Series that the Phillies are going to spend much time replaying in their minds. Not long after they watched the Yankees celebrate on the field, taking the title that they won last year, the Phillies were already in full shoulder-shrug mode.

Regrets? Not really.

"They got the hits and we didn't," Jimmy Rollins said. "Simple. There's no science other than that. Get a hit or you don't. And they did."

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NEW YORK -- The biggest World Series choke involved the New York Yankees, but they won back then in 1996 over the gasping Atlanta Braves.

The Yankees won this time, too. It's just that they did so to avoid sliding toward the brutal end of the second-worst choke in World Series history.

On a clear Wednesday night in the Bronx, with Hideki Matsui's sizzling Mizuno bat and various pinstriped chants warming the November chill inside the newest version of Yankee Stadium, the home team got a 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. It also got a 27th world championship for the franchise.

Plus, it got these current Yankees off the hook.

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Philadelphia's Ryan Howard struck out swinging against Yankees reliever Damaso Marte in the eighth inning Wednesday night, setting a record with his 13th strikeout of the World Series.

Howard, who was MVP of the Phillies' NL championship series victory over Los Angeles, passed Willie Wilson's old mark. Wilson struck out 12 times for Kansas City against Philadelphia in 1980.

Howard went 2 for 5 in the opener, but got two hits the rest of the Series, including a two-run homer in the sixth inning in Game 6. He fanned four times in Game 2 and three times in Game 3.

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the New York Yankees are baseball's best again.

Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive 27th title - the most in all of sports.

It was the team's first since winning three straight from 1998-2000.

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As if the first Game 6 in the World Series in six years wasn't enough to whet your appetite, it's Pedro Martinez in the Bronx, Round 2, on Thursday night. Oh, there's a championship on the line as well as the Yankees try for the second time to win their 27th championship.

Yes, there will be no shortage of drama as the Fall Classic returns to Yankee Stadium, and the MLB FanHouse crew will be here to take you from the first pitch to the final out and beyond.

Will the Yankees celebrate or will the Phillies deliver the best thing all of sports -- a Game 7? Join us after the jump, starting at 7:45 PM ET for a LIVE chat as we find out.

Phillies second baseman Chase Utley is having quite the World Series. The perennial All-Star is hitting .333 with five home runs, eight RBI and a disgusting 1.651 OPS. Needless to say, he's as locked in as anyone in the series. Four of those round-trippers came in the two Phillies victories (two in each), which illustrates the point that it is paramount for the Yankees to stop him in order to win Game 6.

Doing so is easier said than done, but former Yankees pitcher and World Series Champion David Wells has an idea: a little old fashioned "chin music."

NEW YORK -- Pedro Martinez and Andy Pettitte both used the same word to describe how they felt about getting the assignment to pitch Game 6 of the World Series: "Blessed."

Martinez, understanding the similarities between the pitchers go beyond their statistical resumes, added another description: "Two old goats out there doing the best they can and having fun with it."

With the Yankees looking to close out their 27th World Series title on Wednesday night, they'll turn to the 37-year-old Pettitte, while the Phillies will lean on 38-year-old Martinez to try to force a Game 7. The matchup would have plenty of drama because of the situation in the series, but it certainly has an added bit of texture because of what could be the final major league game for either or both of these iconic pitchers.

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