Ed Wade is back in Philadelphia.

After a tumultuous reign as general manager with Houston from late 2007 until 2011, Wade will return to the place that gave him his start. It’s a reunion that should help the Phillies, even though many argue he was already helping them by giving them players while he was the generalr manager in Houston.

It’s an unfair characterization. Michael Bourn turned out to be a good player in Houston, and Brad Lidge helped the Phillies win a World Series. It was a trade that worked for both sides.

The Roy Oswalt trade netted Houston Anthony Gose, Jonathan Villar, and J.A. Happ, and while Happ struggled last season, Oswalt was never truly at his peak with the Phillies in 2011. His 2010 run was solid, but Houston got a decent return.

The Hunter Pence trade sent Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart, Domingo Santana and Josh Zeid to Houston. Singleton and Cosart have become the team’s top two prospects, Villar is 4th, and Santana is 6th, as per Baseball America.

It’s often said that Wade was helping out the Phillies and that some sort of collusion should be investigated. Not true. Wade did pretty well for the Astros in those scenarios. It’s going to take a while to see if any of those players pan out, but you can’t blame Wade for trying to get top talent. He did fine in that respect.

He will return to Philadelphia as part of the scouting department, and will scout the Majors and minors. He will also help with arbitration cases, something that he was well-known for in his stint as Phillies’ general manager.

Interestingly enough, Wade lost an arbitration case last winter to Pence. Pence is up for arbitration this offseason, but both sides have hopes of settling things before going to arbitration. A long term deal could be in Pence’s future, and four years at around $45-48 million doesn’t sound too unreasonable.

Wade never got the job done as Phillies GM, but he did bring a lot of talent to Philadelphia via the draft. Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Cole Hamels were all drafted under Wade’s watch. There were certainly some flubs and reaches along the way, but the Phillies’ scouting department has been regarded as one of the best in the game over the last decade. Wade will add to that.

His trades were never popular and numerous free-agent signings and mid-season pickups went awry, but Wade seems to have an ability to find talent. He’ll do fine in the capacity the Phillies have brought him back in.

Although, some will say that by looking at the trades he made with the Phillies over the years, it’s like he never left.

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It didn’t take long. MLB.com reported that the Philadelphia Phillies had re-signed their own free agent shortstop, Jimmy Rollins, a bit before three this afternoon. Despite the holiday season, the texted protests started within an hour. The first of many from fellow Phils fans will serve as an emblem: “Why did we re-sign Rollins? Stinks!” On MLB.com, the noted analyst-commenter Lelandthedrunk, opined: “Not bad money for a not bad player. He’s not real good, either.”

J-Roll
Wikimedia Commons

For those unfamiliar with fans of the South Philly Nine, let me assure you that we have all, at various, frequent times, been irritated with our former MVP and World Series champion shortstop. Any local fan with as many as eight beers on board could recite the litany: Pops up too much because he thinks he’s Rickey Henderson. Doesn’t walk enough. Doesn’t take enough pitches even if he doesn’t walk. Loafs on his way to first sometimes. And, most gallingly, he once waved away advice from Tony Gwynn.

And yet, the Fightin’s are likely lucky to get their shortstop back at an arguably discounted price of $33 million for three years (with an “easily attainable” vesting option for a fourth year, again per MLB.com).

The first reason for this view is that the best alternative to Rollins a week before Christmas now is the organization’s own Freddy Galvis, a veteran minor leaguer with one (count ‘em, one) season of decent hitting under his belt – at the minor league level.

The second reason is Rollins himself, frustrating as he is. Under reason two, we will list, A) his defense, including agility, arm and range. Even at 33 years (and less than a month right now), Rollins is one of the top seven defensive players at his position, particularly if one takes into account his work with familiar Chase Utley at second base. If you prefer raw numbers, then, in twelve years, J-Roll has had 6832 regular season fielding chances and made 112 errors, according to Baseball-Reference.com. That works out to a .984 fielding average. He has made less than seven errors in each of his last four seasons. B) Despite his maddening tendency to become useless in some key spots, Rollins is a lifetime .272 hitter and will likely finish his career with over 200 home runs and 475 doubles. C) The guy’s a good citizen and a positive clubhouse influence.

Finally, however, we’ll note this one stat-string: While the rest of the Phillies’ bats flew into a cave somewhere against the Cardinals in their most recent NLDS, Rollins hit .450, with four doubles and six runs scored (B-R.com). Compare those numbers to Ryan Howard’s in the same series as per the same source. Howard begins costing $20 million next year on an escalator to $25 million in 2016.

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At least one member of the Philadelphia Phillies is campaigning hard for Jimmy Rollins to come back. We haven’t heard much from the members of the 2011 team. However, newly signed pitcher Dontrelle Willis has made a pitch to bring Rollins back. Willis didn’t waste any time in talking about the free agent shortstop after he was introduced as an official member of the team. I hope his campaigning works. As a Phillies fan, I know the team needs Rollins back.

Willis might have a right to discuss wanting Rollins back with the team. The two have been longtime friends. They come from the same area and both have kept in regular contact since they have played in Major League Baseball. Willis joined the Phillies and is prepared to make the transition to the bullpen. His one year deal seemingly allows him to play on the same team as his friend. Of course, that will only happen if Rollins re-signs with the Phillies.

Willis doesn’t have any inside information. He did say he talked to Rollins after signing with the Phillies and that Rollins was excited about the move. However, it’s not like Willis said that Rollins is definitely returning or that he had some inkling into his real desires. That’s not the way things work. Just because his friend signed with the Phillies doesn’t mean Rollins will. If Rollins signs with the Phillies it will be because it was the best contract and the best situation for him. That said it doesn’t hurt to have Willis on board. A little extra recruiting will only help the situation.

I liked the Willis signing when the Phillies first did it. Now I like it even more. I like how excited he sounds about joining the team and I like how realistic he is about the downward path his career took. Willis seems like a guy that genuinely loves the game of baseball and will always be grateful for playing it. There aren’t enough players out there like that. In fact, he reminds me a lot of Rollins. Rollins was always the vocal leader on this team during this successful run. I hope Rollins returns soon. I would love to see how both of these guys act with each other, the team, and the fans.

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When the season ended abruptly for the Philadelphia Phillies, fans of the team feared that shortstop Jimmy Rollins could have played his last game with the team. Now a free agent, Rollins has had some interest from the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals, but both of those teams went in other directions. A rumor has surfaced that Rollins could head to the Detroit Tigers, but CBS Sports has shot that one down.

Now the Phillies sign Willis, an old friend to Rollins, to be the team’s lefty specialist out of the bullpen. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports, the Rollins and Willis “grew up in the same town, attended the same high school and both had mothers who played professional softball.”

From the sound of it, the signing may help the Phils land Rollins, who is running out of options, anyway: “He was probably more excited about the deal than I was,” Willis said of Rollins, the paper reports.

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Related: Jimmy Rollins, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals

The Philadelphia Phillies will contend for another world championship in 2012. There is little doubt about that. This offseason has been about tweaking a team that is already very good. The Phillies focused on the bullpen and depth. They succeeded in addressing those areas. There is still the matter of signing Jimmy Rollins, but most think that will get done in time. With things a little slow in the offseason right now, it is a good time to think about the players currently on the team. As a Phillies fan, the 2012 season will be critical for one guy in particular. It is do or die time for Domonic Brown.

Brown has been regarded a top prospect for years now. The Phillies refused to part with him when they had the chance to acquire Roy Halladay at the 2009 trade deadline. They were reluctant to part with him when they got Hunter Pence in 2011. The Phillies clearly value Brown as a future piece of this team. But when he has played in the majors, Brown has done nothing. Brown has appeared in 91 games over the past two years and boasts a .236 batting average. He has seven home runs in 280 plate appearances. Basically, Brown has done nothing to justify his lofty status in the organization.

I have been a Brown supporter. Even though he was disappointing in 2011, he is still young enough to be a great player. But 2012 is going to be a pivotal year for him. He will have a chance to earn a spot on the roster to start the season but there is a realistic chance he starts in the minors. Once Brown does reach the big club, he has to perform. The time for him to live up to the expectations is running out. If Brown can’t offer the Phillies a lot in 2012, I can’t imagine the team will resist trading him again. Brown is still highly regarded around baseball and when the trade deadline looms, it is possible that his name could be mentioned as the Phillies explore a deal. I would like to think that Brown will do enough to show the Phillies that they shouldn’t trade him. But the time for talk is over. Brown will have to do it on the field.

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