MLB Trade Rumors: Why the Phillies Should Trade Jimmy Rollins

Jimmy Rollins has seen it all with the Philadelphia Phillies during his career. 

Among many things, Rollins has won a World Series and earned a league MVP, but also has endured the terrible years of the late 1990s and been a part of the franchise’s 10,000th loss. 

My point is, Rollins has seen all he could see in Philadelphia, and maybe a change of scenery for the veteran shortstop could work out for all parties involved. 

While there were questions of whether or not the Phillies would re-sign Rollins in this past offseason, the team did ink the face of its franchise to a three-year deal worth $33 million. 

However, considering how bad the Fightin’s have been this season, many people have speculated that the Phillies would rebuild and ship out their franchise cornerstones like Cole Hamels, Shane Victorino and, recently, Rollins.

According to CBSSports.com’s Danny Knobler, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have extreme woes at shortstop, have interest in the seasoned infielder.

As they try to keep pace with the Giants in the NL West, the Dodgers could desperately use a decent shortstop as Dee Gordon is on the DL with a torn ligament in his thumb and Luis Cruz and Juan Uribe are just not getting the job done.

Something to keep in mind is that Rollins has 10/5 rights (10 years in the league, five in a row with one team), meaning he can’t be traded without his approval. 

After a rough start to the year, Rollins bumped his batting average up to .262 and has nine homers and 34 RBIs on the year.

Not only is Rollins swinging a hot bat, but also he improves the Dodgers defensively, brings veteran leadership into the locker room and boasts a great deal of historic postseason success.

A California native, you have to believe that Rollins would like to move back to his home state and finish out his career there if the Phillies are going to start to rebuild and fail to compete.

While we aren’t in the shortstop’s head and don’t know how he feels about it, a deal to L.A. makes sense from the outsider’s perspective.

In regards to the Phillies, if the team cannot re-sign Cole Hamels, it might want to begin rebuilding.

If they decide to go this route, GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. should seriously consider trading Rollins while he’s on a hitting tear and his trade stock is high.

Not only would they acquire minor league prospects for Rollins, but also they would be saving a large sum of money that they would otherwise still owe the shortstop. 

While a trade would probably devastate longtime Philly fans, it makes sense from a baseball standpoint for both teams—it’s just a matter if Rollins is okay with it.  

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