Philadelphia Phillies: Why Re-Signing Jimmy Rollins Looks More Probable

The Milwaukee Brewers signed Alex Gonzalez, and the St. Louis Cardinals are in the process of re-signing Rafael Furcal. There go two more of the potential suitors for Jimmy Rollins.

What does that mean for the Phillies?

With more teams off the board, obviously this situation becomes much more favorable for them. There will be less competition and a lower probability of a bidding war. Also, they might not have to give him the five-year deal that he wants. Again, with less competition, Rollins will not necessarily have the leverage that he had before.

Originally, according to Jayson Stark, Rollins could have had six teams in the running for his services. One of them was obviously the Phillies, and two of the others were most likely the Brewers and Cardinals. Although Stark only guessed five of the six, the two that still remained in the running were the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves.

Of course, either these two teams are still possible. However, the Giants have young prospect Brandon Crawford already in San Francisco, and the Atlanta Braves have Tyler Pastornicky apparently ready. Why I think that this is significant is because I do not think that either team will necessarily want to block either of these two young men with the long-term contract that Rollins would require.

Therefore, I think that the Phillies are in a very strong position right now to try to re-sign Rollins. The market has taken some different turns this winter, and I hope that the Phillies take advantage of it and bring Rollins back to Philadelphia.