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Earlier today, the always enjoyable Jayson Stark sent a series of tweets about how the Yankees tried to trade for Jimmy Rollins. I find this whole thing pretty amusing.
Multiple sources say #Yankees talked to #Phillies about trading for Jimmy Rollins. But asking price was so high, Yanks moved on....
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) November 26, 2014
The Yankees moved on from acquiring a talented, well-known, older shortstop because the asking price was too high? These are most assuredly the new Yankees.
More on Rollins: Ruben Amaro wouldn't confirm #Yankees interest but said Rollins is "one of best SS in baseball still" (so he'd want a lot)
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) November 26, 2014
Amaro said Rollins is "somebody we want on our club" & would be "very hard to replace." Rollins was never asked to waive no-trade for NYY
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) November 26, 2014
Ruben Amaro, preaching the gospel. Rollins is still a fantastic shortstop, and the Phillies would need a considerable return if they were to trade him. Especially since they'd have to play Freddy Galvis at shortstop until JP Crawford is ready to play. And while Freddy is great, a rake wearing a hat and uniform could probably hit just as well, given enough at-bats. "Very hard to replace" is an understatement. There is no replacing Jimmy Rollins.
Heard from 2 more sources on Rollins-to-NYY report. #Phillies source said all #Yankees offered was a "utility player" & not close to enough
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) November 26, 2014
Oh, so they're not the new Yankees, then. That's a dick move, to offer a utility player for Jimmy Rollins. It's like the front office got the idea to trade for Rollins while they were drunk, and when they sobered up they lost interest and decided to offer whoever had annoyed them most recently.
So this whole thing seems pretty stupid, right? Here's the kicker:
Both sources also said Rollins isn't interested in getting traded to #Yankees so it was a moot point to pursue this further.
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) November 26, 2014
Oh, so this entire thing was a gigantic waste of everyone's time! Leave "further" off the end of that tweet and you'd have a more accurate portrayal of this whole exchange. I guess the point of the offseason is to toss around ideas, but why even bother if the player in question won't waive his no-trade clause? Those are several phone calls and a bunch of minutes that no one can get back.