It has been nearly two months into the offseason for major league players, and so far it has been pretty quiet. Jimmy Rollins, whose indecisive future with the Phillies, will meet with Phillies’ GM Ruben Amaro Jr. in Dallas, Texas during the winter meetings, which begin on Monday.
Rollins’ agent, Don Lozano, said that Rollins will in fact meet with Amaro beginning next week.
“I’ve had numerous conversations with Ruben this off-season,” Lozano said by telephone. “We have a meeting set up for Dallas and we’ll see what transpires from that.”
After signing Jim Thome, Jonathan Papelbon, and Ty Wigginton to the team in November, the Phillies have filled most of the slots that needed to be filled. But now, it’s time for the Phillies and Amaro to fill in the shortstop position.
Rollins has been a Phillie since 1996. The 33-year-old is entering his first off season as a free agent and he has made it clear that he wants a long time deal, preferably a five-year contract. Ruben Amaro has noted that he would like to have Rollins back, but he hasn’t discussed any negotiations.
Excerpt from CSN Jim Salisbury’s report:
Though Amaro will not discuss negotiations, he appears to have serious misgivings about giving Rollins a deal of that length. A three-year deal appears to be a lot more to the Phils’ liking. Can the two sides find common ground? Stay tuned. It’s December. The Phils want to know who their shortstop will be in 2012. The answer could come soon.
Whatever the case is, it is only the beginning of December and the winter meetings begin just next week. Big names such as Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, and Jose Reyes have yet to make any headlines. Even though talks between Rollins and the Phils are beginning, doesn’t necessarily mean anything will happen anytime soon, or anything at all.
Erik Seybold is a contributor for Buzz on Broad. You can follow him on Twitter @ErikSeyboldPHI
Original Story:
http://www.buzzonbroad.com/2011/12/ph...
