Ryan Howard, one of just two holdovers from the 2008 World Series championship team, may or may not have a future with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Andy MacPhail anticipates that Howard will be with the team in spring training next season.

Howard will be in the final year of the five-year, $125 million contract extension he signed in April 2010. He will make $35 million between his base salary and the buyout of his option for 2017.

"I don't know what's going to happen over the course of the winter, what opportunities may be available for us and for him," MacPhail said. "We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there.

"But right now, he's somebody that I think we have a vested interest in getting back healthy and getting him to Clearwater and getting that bat in our lineup that we don't have without him."