Much of that stemmed from a meeting that general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. had with Rollins' agent late Monday night. While Rollins has said he is looking for a 5-year deal, and while the Phillies have been hesitant to move beyond 3, there are some indications that the two sides are finally making some progress toward middle ground.
"We had a nice meeting," Amaro said of his late-night chat with Dan Lozano. "Not really much to report. We just had a good discussion about some things. As you guys know, I don't really talk about progress or no progress. It was a good meeting. We'll keep working through it."
The Phillies have had discussions with free-agent third baseman Aramis Ramirez, but it isn't clear how serious they are about signing the veteran and trading Placido Polanco.
Manuel said he talked to Rollins a week ago when both were in Philadelphia for Phillies events.
"We talked about a lot of things," Manuel said.
Amaro said he has no deadline for resolving the situation. He continues to mention 22-year-old prospect Freddy Galvis as a potential replacement, but that seems to be more talk than anything. And, while the Brewers have expressed some interest in Rollins, most baseball people here at the winter meetings think his return to Philadelphia is just a matter of time.
"Jimmy has every right to feel prideful about what he has done in his career and what his impact has been upon our club," Amaro said. "I absolutely understand that he feels he has great worth, and he should feel that way. It's just a matter of us getting to the right place where we think the worth is the same."
Deadline day
