The Phillies have some very important decisions to make going forward and one of their biggest decisions concerns shortstop Jimmy Rollins. He has been with the Philadelphia Phillies his entire Major League Baseball career, but his contract is up with the Phils and in a month, he’ll become a free agent.
I think they’ve got try to re-sign Rollins, since they know that Ryan Howard won’t be available at the start of the 2012 season. The switch-hitting shortstop made it clear that he wants to sign a five-year deal. I’ve heard the $12 million a year number thrown around concerning the infielder.
“If I was older, I’d take a shorter term,” Rollins said. “But I’ll be 33 when I get the contract. That means I have a good six years left to perform at a high level and maybe even more.”
Phils General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. didn’t put all of his cards on the table but he did let us know that they’re going to try to resign J-Roll.
“We’re still kicking it around as to how far we want to go with Jimmy to keep him here,” Amaro said. “He knows our priority absolutely is to keep him in our uniform.”
Rollins is still an outstanding defensive shortstop. He batted .268 during the regular season with 16 home runs and 68 RBI’s. The complaint about Jimmy has always been his approach at the plate. He doesn’t take pitches like most leadoff hitters, instead he’s always been a free-swinger.
Rollins made it clear that he wants to stay here but if he can’t he’s willing to go elsewhere. He even admitted that if he goes to another club, it will probably have something to do with the money, although the spark plug shortstop said he won’t lead the Fightins’ to play for a bad ball club.
“Obviously, if I was to go somewhere else, it’d be probably for money, and for years, and to another good team,” Rollins said. “I’m just not gonna go somewhere just because they’re giving you a lot of money. It has to be the right circumstance.”
J-Roll wants to stay but he’s not going to stay for nothing.
“You are prepared for everything,” Rollins said. “You are prepared to get it done here and get it done in Philadelphia if it works out. That would be No. 1. If it doesn’t, we’ll see what happens on the open market. If everything is the same, I won’t go anywhere. If it is something crazy, then it is something that I will think about.”
Absolutely not!!! 2-3 at a price! If not see ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya! He ain’t all that anymore! Although he is still a very good SS, he hasn’t had a good season since his MVP year, & wasn’t before! He can’t run anymore & his plate presence is atrocious! They have to give this team a face lift, just like the Flyboys did! Goodbye Rollins, Polanco, Utley, Ibanez, Lidge, & Madson. If Howard didn’t get hurt, I would have traded him for a bag of balls, & signed Pujols. But that is just a pipe dream, now. You have to start soon or it will be bad quickly. The age factor & declining in skill level has obviously crept in already. They might have some major problems next year, unless Amaro can rape some other GM’s again! I hope I’m wrong & he can make some majic this off season & breath some fresh air in to this team. The approach to hitting has to change drastically! No more swinging for the damn fences, every at bat! They have no power on this team, other than Howard, when he does hit the damn ball! Pence is good, but not a natural power hitter. Utley is near done & has lost his power. Mayberry has power, is still wet behind the ears, & can’t hit the breaking ball. Polanco is near done. Ruiz has regressed, & is a ground out machine. Victorino & Rollins are David’s trying to be Goliath’s, & don’t run anymore, also. They have to reshape this team with good fundamental ballplayers, & some more power & average guys. Not guys that are hit or miss, hit a HR or strike out.
Yeah I heard 35 year old Marco Scutaro is the best available. So we will have 35 year old Scutaro and 90 year old Utley turning double plays. If your gonna sign Rollins you have to move Utley. I just think its easier to find a 2nd baseman. Alot of questions. Is Polanco gonna be back to his contact hitter status? Was it strictly the hernia that hampered him? I have no problems with the outfield. I think Mayberry gives us a .265-.270 ba, 30 hrs and 102 rbis. Oswalt has to go to. The whole infield is in play except for a injured 1st baseman. Never thought I would say this but I like Martinez and Valdez off the bench. This team should have 60 million to play with when all is said and done. With 4 starting pitchers. Not such a bad deal.
Heard some of the other Free-Agents the Phils are thinking about pursuing
OF C Beltran
3B C Jones
C R Barajas
SS O Cabrera
2B J Wilson
CF J Pierre
1B D Ortiz
No. Offer him 3 years, if he bolts, he bolts. Bring up Galvis or sign someone short-term until Galvis is ready. They may want to see if he is as ready as he looked in his brief time at AAA. The Phils have signed a lot of players to long term deals–at the time it was signed, I thought the Howard deal was good–now, it doesn’t look as good. Three straight years his power numbers have gone down. Polly has 1 year left on his deal, and if you listened or read what Amaro has said, it looks like they’re going to make him a super sub. If I were the Phils, I’d re-sign or try at least, to re-sign Madson, sign Michael Cuddyer to a 3 year deal to stand in at 1st for Howard. Their whole bench might have to be reshaped–but we won’t know until after the Series who files for FA.
No way Paulamn are they going to go after Beltran. He was more hyped than Pence was and what did he do for the Giants? Not much and he’s going to demand a ton.
And what did Pence do for us in the postseason?
on a serious note
I would offer a 3 Year Deal (with an option of team buyout after Year 2
PAckage about $18-$20 MIllion over the 3 Years and have incentives for Games Played and performace goals (Hits,Steals,Errors, etc,etc)
The MVP was a once in a career kind of year for Rollins and was and still is silly for people to expect him to have anything close to the Stats wise..
IF Rollins can bat .275-.280 play a good SS and steal you 35-40 bases, score 80+ Runs and knock in another 40-50, than that’s about all you can expect.. His biggest issue is as a lead off batter, his On-Base % is not very good.. HE needs to shorten his swing, bunt more (Which it’s probably too late for him now since he never was a good bunter), get more walks, etc,etc but it’s just not his game and after 10-12 years in the Big Leagues, he is what he is..
Paulman — if Jimmy leaves, who would be the longest tenured Philadelphia pro sports athlete?
I was only kidding about the Free-agent list and wanted to list more old,beat up, players who are past their primes..
1 Players who would be worth to look at is Cubs 3B Amaris Ramirez
He’s about 33 years old and will comman big $$ and has had some injury issues in the past… But he’s a 30-35 HR guy with 100-120 RBI bat when he’s motivated.. He’s played on the Pirates and Cubs so a chance of scenery to a good team could propel him to some big Numbers
Carrer Batting Average of .284 with 315 HR’s and 1120 RBi’s over his 10 Year Career.. He’s probably going to get $15 Million per Season from someone and I am not so sure he’s worth it, but put him in this Phillie Line-up with Rollins,Utley,Pence,Howard and Ramirez and that would be a pretty strong top of the order and real protection behind Howard..
To Birdo
If J-Ro were to leave, my guess would be either Todd Herremans, J Parker, J Hanson or Jamall JAckson would become the longest tenured Philly SPorts athlete.
Come on Paul, you’re usually on top of things when it comes to useless information. I need a definite answer!!
Phillies arent running with Rollins. They arent making the rules he is. I gotta believe that he definetly doesnt have to settle for what THEY think is a good deal. Rollins is the 2nd best FA ss on the market and reports are alot of teams think he is a better value than Reyes, So he will definetly have multiple offers at his price. Just like with Jackson fans that think the Philly sports teams are the only game in town. Thats just not the case. Do we really believe we can just stick anyone at ss? Gotta believe we would be weakining it defensively and offensively since Rollins is one of the best 2 ss on the market. Im all for if we have a better option to move Rollins. But to just stick anyone in there, yeah that will work.
I’d give him 5 years for 10 mil a year. I think re-signing Rollins AND Hamels are vital to the continued success of this team.
The Howard deal is proving to be one of the worst deals in the history of our franchise.
i think Iguadalo would be the longest tenured philly athlete.
Birdo, it just came out that Pence was playing with a sports hernia! I can’t believe him & Polanco were even able to run. No excuses, but more & more info arises, we were playing with a M*A*S*H* unit, most of the end of the year! I know it’s meaningless, but how did we win 102 f^@#ing games!?
Easy Birdo,
I haven’t had enough Coffee yet… My Useless Info Brain Dept is still waking up… I wll do some research to find out.. but KTDawks answer of Iggy may be the correct one..
No 5 year deal for Rollins…No questionable free agents either…Bring the young guy up in spring training, and, as an alternative, see if there is a lower profile free agent SS available…Both Valdez and Martinez can play SS, with Valdez the better defensive player…I would rather have a good defensive player at SS, at least for this year, and go after a 3RD baseman with some pop…This is where Amaro to earn his money, as he has a lot of holes to fill…Here is a list of free agent SSs available for next season:
Yuniesky Betancourt MIL *
Ronny Cedeno PIT
Adam Everett CLE
Rafael Furcal LAD
Alex Gonzalez ATL
Cesar Izturis BAL
John McDonald TOR
Augie Ojeda ARI
Jose Reyes NYM
Nick Punto STL
Edgar Renteria CIN
Jose Reyes NYM
Jimmy Rollins PHI
Ramon Santiago DET
Marco Scutaro BOS *
Jack Wilson SEA
cant’t believe some of you so quick to rid rollins, he’s the face of this franchise, still relatively young, big time in the clubhouse, they should sign him and get rid of Madson, he will demand top closer money and he is not a top closer, not even close to the right attitude
I would NOT give Rollins 5 years, instead bring up Galvis and use the money to upgrade at 3B.
Hamels and Madsen are priortity #1 & #2
I wouldn’t give him exactly what he wants, but he’s a critical player that gives the Phillies quite a bit in a number of areas. I would say 5 years at 7-9M is in the sweet spot that will be in a area where most teams will match, but not outbid.