A Vote of Confidence for Jimmy Rollins

Most Valuable "Playa"

Since the 2011 season has come and gone with the disappointment of the Phillies weighing heavily on the City of Brotherly Love, there is only one thing left for fans to do: Focus on the 2012 season. This, of course, is not new to Philadelphia fans because the day after the glorious parade down Broad Street in 2008, the Phillies’ faithful were already talking about improvements to be made so that there could be back-to-back championships in 2009. With that in mind, the most important decision for the Phillies this upcoming offseason (besides whether or not they have a closer next year) is what to do with 32, soon to be 33, year old shortstop, James Calvin Rollins. In order to make an informed decision, let’s learn from the past and see what another recent shortstop over 30 has done.

The most recent example of this scenario was for the illustrious Derek Jeter. Now Derek is definitely older than Jimmy when requesting a big pay day, but then again it is “The Captain” we are talking about here so he can make those demands. In 2006, at 32 years old, Jeter felt like a boy growing up in the Bronx again with his split looking a little bit like this: .343/.417/.483 14 HR, 97 RBI, 34 SB. We are willing to bet that if Rollins put numbers even close to this over the next 3 seasons, it would be well worth the money to give him the 5 yr deal right now. Some of the naysayers out there may say, “big deal he must have fell off after that”, and to that we reply, look at his splits the next 3 seasons: .322/.388/.452, .300/.363/.408, .334/.406/.465, respectively. We aren’t saying Jimmy is going to put up this type of numbers over the next 4 or 5 seasons, but it shows that a shortstop over the age of 32 can continue to thrive and succeed even as his age progresses.

Then there is also fielding to consider, because this is one of the most important parts of the SS position. Jeter has always had more errors than Rollins, but since he turned 32 in 2006, he has 53 errors in a five year period, which is an average of 10.6/yr. If you look at that over his life as a Yankee, that’s actually a bit lower than his career average of 13.6/yr. We know a lot of that can be argued by his possible decrease in range, but as long as errors continue to be counted as a stat, we will continue to use them in the argument. Plus, watch game film of Jeter and Rollins, you can see using the “eye test” that these guys are still quality defensive shortstops.

This past year, Jimmy showed that he can continue to be as productive as any point in his career. His splits this year were .268/.338/.399 which is extremely close to his splits in his entire career .272/.329/.432. His BA and SLG are a little bit down, but possibly the most important stat for a leadoff hitter, on-base percentage, was actually higher than his career average. When we compare these numbers to every other SS in MLB, Rollins finished 13^th in the league in AVG, 9^th in OBP, 10^th in SLG and, oh yeah, 5^th among all SS for homeruns. Jimmy has always been a catalyst and the Phillies have been able to score runs because of his table setting at the top of the lineup. If his OBP continues to stay at that rate, the offense has a fighting chance to score some runs going forward. The other factor here is Jimmy’s defense, which has always been stellar. In 2011, with 138 games, Rollins only had 7 errors…wow. Throughout his entire life as a Phillie, he has averaged 8.62 errors per season. Again, this season appears to be an improvement for his career average. If you look throughout the league, Rollins sits 4^th in the league in fielding percentage (.988) and tied for third in Major League Baseball with only those 7 errors. The argument for his range declining can be made, but again use the “eye test” and you can see that he is still a gold glove caliber type of player.

After those valuable insights, even Ben is running to tell Amaro how to handle it.

Our final argument for Jimmy Rollins is a sentimental one. Jimmy has been with the club since he was drafted, and he has gone through the good and bad of being a Philadelphia sports star. He dealt with the team when we were perennial losers (80-81 in his second full year with the club in 2002) and the ultimate joy in 2008 with a World Series trophy. He deserves to finish out his career here in Philadelphia whether it ends on a high or on a low. The low would be if he got injured and couldn’t complete his contract, wasting the team’s money on a yearly basis, but players are routinely playing much later now-a-days, even Raul Ibanez can contribute at 39. Age is not what it used to be and injury is something that can happen just as easily to a 22 year old as it can to a 33 year old. The high would be a record that Jimmy Rollins is close to reaching. The all-time Phillies career hits leader, Michael Jack Schmidt, is at 2,234 and Jimmy is a measly 368 hits behind him at 1,866. Even if we have to give Jimmy the 5 year deal (4 with an option), it would help the Philadelphia area retain a leader and all-time great for the club. With three decent years in those five years, James Calvin Rollins can easily reserve his rightful place in Phillies history as one of the best ever to wear the red pinstripes. Give him the chance to be one of the greatest players in Phillies’ history.

OMG!!! JAYSON WERTH IS NOW AFRICAN AMERICAN!!!

And now that we have your attention… here is what that ridiculous title means…

"If that ball drops in for a single I am going to be quite infuriated. I won't settle for anything less than a double."

As the title tells us in a very non-politically correct way, we may have found the second coming of Jayson Werth in our little Stanford Cardinal (Except hes in no way little and he better not leave us for a lot of money/losses). Yes, that’s right, the incredibly intelligent Ivy League man is showing in a big way that he can perform on a daily basis in the outfield.  Since Opening Day, in which he hit a walk off single versus the Houston Astros, John Mayberry Jr. has been finding a way to get the big hit and make a big impact for this talented World Series ready club. He also has the ability to become a super utility man when needed as seen when he filled in for Ryan Howard at 1^st, Raul Ibanez in LF, Ben Francisco in RF (Before we acquired the right hand hitting God), and extremely valuable time filling in for Shane Victorino in CF. Mayberry (Power) was acquired in a trade with the Texas Rangers swapping “speed for power” as Big Rube called it, when we sent Greg Golson (Speed) to the Rangers (Once again proving he is the best GM in the bizzzz). Since then, I would say that the deal has worked out better for the Phillies than the Rangers, since Golson is no longer there and not on a Major League roster. But let’s take a look at some of the numbers since we recalled Johnny May from the minors.

A long long time ago, roughly two months ago to be precise, in a ballpark near you, there was a mythical creature who was promoted from being an Iron Pig to being a Phillie, and that is where the story begins. Okay, that was gay, we’re sorry, but since July 5^th when Mayberry was recalled and Vanimal was sent down, John Mayberry has turned the corner at the plate. When he was designated, he was struggling a bit to find his offensive groove, but since then, he has done it all.  He tweaked his stance which went from tall and slow to more compact and less slow, and that has translated well for Johnny May. Big John has been 26 for 82 (.317 BA) with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 8 HRs and 27 RBIs since the “great knee bend incident”. Oh yeah, lets add in there 4 BBs and a SB just for good measure too. Not to mention, he also plays solid defensively whether it is tracking down the ball in the outfield or digging a throw out of the dirt, he does it all.

The only question that John Mayberry Jr has left for the Phillies to contemplate is, should he replace Raul right away or just platoon him in there for Rightie/Leftie, Leftie/Rightie matchups? The one answer that is for certain is the John Mayberry has hit his way into Charlie Manuel’s lineup and isn’t going to stop anytime soon.