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Jimmy Rollins isn’t ready to be a full-time TV star just yet.
The 38-year-old former Phillie great wants to continue playing Major League Baseball in 2017. Unfortunately for Phils fans, that might mean having to look at Rollins in the uniform of the team that annoyingly vanquished them in 2010.
Source: Jimmy Rollins signs minor-league deal with #SFGiants.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 19, 2016
Yuck.
Rollins has a lot of work to do to crack the Giants’ roster, especially coming off a season in which he played only 41 games, all for the Chicago White Sox, and batted .221/.295/.329 for a wRC+ of 69 and an fWAR of 0.0.
But San Francisco is kind of his home-town team (Jimmy from Oakland) and it’s probably the best place for him to take one last stab at playing big league ball again.
Last year was a struggle for Rollins, who made the White Sox’ opening day lineup, but fizzled out as the season wore on. He was released by the team in mid-June and spent the rest of the season looking for his next gig.
The Phillies’ all-time hits leader isn’t going to beat out Brandon Crawford at shortstop, but it is possible he could swipe the job from Joe Panik, who struggled in 2016, batting ..239/.315/.379 with 10 HRs in 526 PAs and an fWAR of 2.1. He is an excellent defender, though, so Rollins making the team as a starter is a bit of a long-shot.
If Rollins is able to make the Giants, he’ll make a total of million dollars in base salary and potentially another million in incentives. He’ll also be looking to add some counting stats to his already borderline case to make the Hall of Fame, even if it does come wearing the San Francisco uniform that so many Phils fans still have issues with.
Yeah, maybe we need to let it go already. So even if it is with the Giants, good luck in San Francisco, Jimmy, especially if it helps get you into Cooperstown.