On the surface, the idea that former Philadelphia Phillies' shortstop Jimmy Rollins agreed to just a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox Monday is rather surprising. But when you dig a little deeper, Rollins taking a minor league deal, which includes an invite to Spring Training, only reminds the public of the cocky confidence that has allowed him to have a borderline hall of fame career.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported after the signing that Rollins turned down offers from a pair of clubs who were offering him more money (and security, because they were major league deals) than the White Sox deal, but wanted him to be a bench piece.
Rosenthal reported in January that some teams were interested in signing Rollins as a second-baseman, after he took a step back in the field in 2015. Rosenthal said at that time that while Rollins wasn't necessarily against the idea, he still wanted to play shortstop, so he elected to continue to wait the market out.
From the day of that initial tweet from Rosenthal, January 8th, Rollins waited close to a month and a half for Ian Desmond, the top free-agent shortstop, to decide his next destination. When it became clear that Desmond wasn't going to blink and sign a deal just because Spring Training was opening up, Rollins elected to be the one to blink instead.
Rollins waiting on someone else to help open up his market doesn't really fit anything we've come to know about him in his 15 seasons in the league. Him accepting a deal to just be a star bench piece, whether that's what he should be at this point in his career or not, doesn't fit what we've come to know about him.
Rollins is one of the most confident players to ever play in the city of Philadelphia. He put a target on his back prior to the 2007 season by declaring the Phillies 'the team to beat' even though the New York Mets had won 97 games the previous season and were a World Series favorite. He backed that up by winning the National League MVP and leading the Phillies to their first playoff appearance of the millennium.
So is it really an uphill battle for him to take a minor league deal and accept an invitation to Spring Training with no guarantee that he will be on the White Sox roster? Not in his mind. In his mind, he's as confident as ever that he's going to make Chicago's roster out of Spring Training and help to cement himself as the best shortstop not named Jeter of this generation.
Phillies nuggets
- With Rollins signed and Cliff Lee's agent suggesting he won't pitch, Shane Victorino is the highest profile former Phillie that's a free-agent that definitely wants to play in 2016.
- I'm torn on Ryan Howard suggesting that the media seems to have forgotten how much he helped the Phillies accomplish. On one hand, he's the second best power-hitter in the organization's history and helped take them win a World Series. On the other hand, it's been half a decade since Howard's last good season.
Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) is the Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com, focusing on news and features.
