Jimmy Will Be Jimmy

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.”

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.