2012 MLB Free Agency: Most Likely Destinations for Jimmy Rollins
October 12, 2011 by Ian Stancato
Filed under Fan News
Jimmy Rollins has been an All-Star, MVP and World Series champion throughout his career in Philadelphia, but, for the first time, J-Roll faces free agency. Rollins himself, at a press conference held in the days following the Phillies‘ stunning playoff exit, stated that he is seeking at least a five-year deal from whatever team is looking to sign him.
While he later admitted that, for the right price, he would consider a four-year deal with a player option for the fifth year, this is an interesting development as it requires whoever intends to sign Rollins to commit long-term to the aging shortstop.
At 32, Rollins has already shown some signs of slowing down and one must not forget that he spent his first few years in the big leagues playing on the notorious Veterans Stadium turf. His $8.5 million salary last season was in the top 10 for shortstops, and one must expect that, based on his postseason performance especially, Rollins will seek considerably more than the $7 million a year average he was awarded with his last contract.
The question is, should a team commit five years and more than $7 million a year to a 32-year-old shortstop who missed a 20-game stretch due to injury in 2011 and managed to play in just over half of his team’s games in 2010?
Or should a team more strongly consider that Rollins is year in and year out one of the most productive shortstops in the game and is coming off a postseason series in which he hit almost .500, delivering clutch hits at a time when the rest of his team largely struggled?
It will be interesting to see if some team is willing to meet all of Rollins’ demands in order to land the star shortstop, or if Rollins will realize that his best shot at another World Series lies in Philadelphia and give his only major league club a hometown discount.
The next few months will surely answer those questions.
Here are five teams that have the financial capabilities, need at shortstop, and winning attitude it will take to sign Rollins, in order of likelihood that Rollins will go there, lowest to highest.