It almost goes without saying that the best outcome for the Phillies would be to bring Rollins back. The rationale is the same one that moved Amaro to trade still more prospects for Hunter Pence. Which is that Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt ain't getting any younger and that Cole Hamels is under control only through 2012. And Pence is the only regular position player under 30.
So the window of opportunity, at least as it exists now, is shrinking. The Phillies would like to win as many World Series trophies as possible while this rotation remains intact and the nucleus of the lineup is still productive. In that scenario, teams are going to prefer proven over unproven almost every time.
"Obviously, we'd like to bring Jimmy back. And I'd like to think he would want to come back," Amaro said.
The obvious disclaimers are how much money and for how many years, with the latter likely a larger hurdle than the former. The Phillies don't have much to spend if they don't want to surpass the luxury-tax threshold, which they clearly don't. There is some cash coming off the books but there are also built-in raises to deal with. And that's before contemplating locking up Hamels and whether they can re-sign closer Ryan Madson.
Amaro said there probably won't be discussions with Rollins until the end of the year, which also appears significant. The Phillies have extended players during the season before. Brad Lidge. Ryan Howard. Heck, they even picked up the option year on Rollins a year before they had to.
