MLB Trade Rumors 2016: Veteran Jimmy Rollins Ends Up with the White Sox on a Minor League Deal
For a player who's been in the league for one and a half decade, Jimmy Rollins is showing no letup and no signs of father time. The 37-year-old on Monday signed a new minor league deal for the Chicago White Sox that will give him a decent payday of $2 million if he every succeeds in making it to a major league team this season.
The White Sox's current rotation is filled with prospects and youngsters who are all competing for a starting job at shortstop, and the addition of Rollins is definitely an intriguing development right before the start of the team's full squad practice.
Rollins has been in the major league for 16 seasons, achieving a lot along the way, including the 2007 NL Most Valuable Player award and participating in three All-Star games. He also is a four-time Gold Glove winner during his time with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he spent all but one of his seasons as a professional baseball player. The only other team he played for is the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, where he had a batting average of .224 along with 13 home runs, 24 doubles, and 41 RBIs.
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His inclusion in the White Sox roster was expected when the team decided to part ways with another veteran shortstop in Alexei Ramirez, who in turn signed up to play for the San Diego Padres. Rollins will be competing with top prospect Tim Anderson and the likely starter Tyler Saladino for the job.
But with his age and experience, it is more likely that he's going to be used as a mentor and positive voice for all the young guys in this team. At least this is what the team expects of him. According to general manager Rick Hahn, Rollins also will be expecting some utility role even if he's been a shortstop his entire career. He said that the veteran's experience and baseball smarts would make him a good fit in either second or third base.
The addition of Rollins, who is expected to report this week, is in some way a last ditch effort by the team to add depth to a very young roster, and it remains to be seen how this impacts them when the season begins.
