By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
While in camp for the San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies icon Jimmy Rollins may have proven that he's more cut out for a role in sports media at this point his life by potentially providing a scoop on one of his former teammates.
According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, Rollins says that his former teammate Shane Victorino hasn't made a decision about his playing future:
Shane Victorino still hasn’t decided if he will try to keep playing, and is at home with his kids right now, his friend Jimmy Rollins said.
Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe reported in January that Victorino had received an offer to play in 2017 and his agent was waiting to hear if the 36-year-old wanted to accept it. Cafardo then followed that report up early last month by noting that Victorino had surgery to remove a cyst under his arm, which at the very least put his comeback 'on hold.' This is the first report to surface on Victorino in over a month, and would seem to suggest that his career is probably over.
After injuries limited him to just 71 games between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels in 2015, Victorino didn't play in the majors in 2016. After struggling with injuries in Spring Training, Victorino didn't make the Chicago Cubs roster a year ago, after signing a minor league deal with them in the off-season, and only played in nine Triple-A games before being released.
The one real route for him to ever get back to the big leagues was for him to sign a deal with a team this spring — which it seems he had the chance to do before his surgery — and make the club out of Spring Trainng. Without the chance for him to prove that he could still be productive and stay healthy in Spring Training, it seems hard to imagine a team taking a chance on Victorino. He could still sign a minor league deal with a team during the season, if he elects to resume his comeback attempt, and hope he plays well enough to get a shot to be called up to the major league level. That doesn't seem especially likely, though.
It's possible that given this time with his family, Victorino will elect to retire. He spoke to Ryan Lawrence of Philly Voice last season and sounded as though a summer away from the game made him realize how difficult it would be to ever be away from his family for an entire season again:
"Yeah, I mean I still have a love for the game. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that will ever leave you. But you know there are things you think about and decisions you have to make. Family comes into the equation. Being there for my kids, finally being away for the game this past season I saw the significance of being a dad and what that means. Understanding being a kid myself. But circumstances were different. My parents weren’t always around because they had to work to make ends meet. Where if I’m not around I’m just playing a game. So that’s the balance I’m trying to figure out. But, yes, there are things that I’ll weigh. The game of baseball, and my love for the game. It’s still there. I’d love the chance to come back and play, but that answer is not etched in stone. This summer has taught me a lot about parenting."
Perhaps if Victorino had a guaranteed spot on an MLB roster and assurance that he could stay healthy, he would sign with a team for one more run. Without that, it seems that Victorino's career is likely over.
Like Rollins, Victorino could potentially end up with a career as an analyst, whether that would be at the local or national level. Unlike Rollins, Victorino has iconic moments with two different organizations — the Phillies and the Red Sox — so his post-playing options, such as being an analyst or working within an organization, may be even more intriguing.
