So, I last wrote about the things that I believed MUST
happen for the Phillies to garner any success this season. 2014, as we know, has an outlook that has
many fair-weather fans running for the hills, but there were several uncertainties
that I believed could surprise some people if they developed and showed
rejuvenation from a tough 2013 campaign.
So far in Clearwater, two of those specific needs for this roster have
fallen entirely flat. Jimmy Rollins and
Ryan Howard (hitting .211 and .245 this spring, respectively) are proving that
they may, in fact, be unable to perform at a high level at this point in their
careers.
Jimmy Rollins may be under-performing – again – but this
off-season has been more than just a lack of numbers at the plate. One of the greatest Phillies of all time, and
a borderline HOF talent has been villainized throughout this spring for a
statement that, if nothing else, is completely factual. Rollins was asked a question about the
possibility of being traded this season, and he responded at length:
“They can’t trade me. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care which way it has tried to be
twisted or said, if it is exactly how it was said or if it was said, I can’t be
traded.”
Rollins has a full no-trade clause. He wants to stay in Philadelphia. Even if the team tries to move him, and holds
the right to decline the trade and stay comfortably in the city where he has
played his entire career.
There seems to be some confusion in the reports about J-Roll’s
status as a Phillie. ESPN’s Buster Olney
reported that several members of the organization would like to move on from
Rollins because of his lack of leadership coming into this season. Ruben Amaro, on the other hand, refuted these
reports, calling them “silliness.” His
stance was clear,
“Jimmy Rollins is our
shortstop. One of the ways we’re going
to win is with Jimmy being
Jimmy.”
Jimmy.”
This presses the question: as fans, who do we believe - reports
from the generally reliable Buster Olney, or Ruben Amaro’s (aka Ruin Tomorrow)
claims of their falsehood?
I suppose it doesn’t really matter all that much,
though. Jimmy was adamant about where he
wants to be. If the Phillies
organization was smart, they would bury this saga immediately. There is absolutely no good that can come from
it, and certainly not what I want our shortstop to be talking about going into
the opening series.
My plead to the front office – squash the reports, state
again from more trustworthy sources that Jimmy is our guy, and move on. We head to Arlington in a week, and in all
honestly, this team has much bigger issues moving forward than trying to keep Jimmy
from being Jimmy.
