Tuesday, December 20, 2011

2007 Bowman Heritage #155 Jimmy Rollins

Jimmy Rollins officially returned to the Phillies yesterday, finalizing his new three-year, $33 million contract with a vesting option for a fourth year. Rollins, who has been with the organization since he was drafted in 1996, will hopefully stay with the organization through the 2015 season.

I'm a big Jimmy Rollins fan, and I'm glad this deal got done. He's been the face of the franchise and the team's leader from the dark days of the early 2000's through the golden age of today. I couldn't imagine him wearing a Cardinals or a Brewers or a Red Sox uniform, and I'm selfishly happy that none of those teams were willing to give Rollins the five years he initially sought. Jimmy belongs in Philadelphia and I look forward to adding his 2012, 2013, 2014 and perhaps 2015 baseball cards to my collection.

Moving On
Dane Sardinha (10-11) 10/10/11 - Filed for free agency
Brandon Moss (11) 10/17/11 - Outrighted to Lehigh Valley and filed for free agency (Signed with the Oakland A's organization)
Brad Lidge (08-11) 10/24/11 - Team option declined
Roy Oswalt (10-11) 10/24/11 - Team option declined
Ross Gload (10-11) 10/30/11 - Filed for free agency
Raul Ibanez (09-11) 10/30/11 - Filed for free agency
Ryan Madson (03-11) 10/30/11 - Filed for free agency
Juan Perez (11) 11/2/11 - Became a minor league free agent
Scott Mathieson (06, 10-11) 11/29/11 - Released
Ben Francisco (09-11) 12/12/11 - Traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Frank Gailey

Coming Back
Pete Orr (11) 11/3/11 - Re-signed by the Phillies as a minor league free agent with an invitation to Spring Training
Brian Schneider (10- ) 11/17/11 - Re-signed by the Phillies to a one-year contract
Jimmy Rollins (00- ) 12/19/11 - Re-signed by the Phillies to a three-year contract with a vesting fourth year

New Additions
Jim Thome (03-05) 11/5/11 - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Cleveland Indians
Jonathan Papelbon 11/14/11 - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Boston Red Sox
Ty Wigginton 11/20/11 - Acquired with cash from the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named later or cash
Laynce Nix 12/8/11 - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Washington Nationals
Dontrelle Willis 12/15/11 - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Cincinnati Reds

2 comments:

Jim from Downingtown said...

I thought Jimmy was very classy during the press conference shown on the Monday 12/19 Daily News Live show on Comcast Sportsnet.

Jim said...

Totally agree. He said all the right things.