Aramis Ramirez is Newest Guy Who Shouldn’t Replace Jimmy Rollins

Everybody keeps tossing this word “interesting” around, as if it’s synonomous with “anxiety-ridden” or “bullshit.”

You know, I swore my days of screaming things out loud while typing them in all caps were over.  And yet again, the offseason has sent me spiraling off the wagon.  Maybe if the Phillies wouldn’t do things like start showing interest in the Cubs’ Aramis Ramirez, I wouldn’t have to suffer through sleepless nights, wondering if my J-Roll jersey is going to be rendered obsolete by him signing somewhere else or me sobbing into it.

Maybe if everybody could just be friends and no one was threatening to rip off the face of the franchise, I wouldn’t have this festering sizzle in my gut.  People keep saying it’s indigestion or maybe a tapeworm, but I know it’s just the stress this time of year puts on me.

We all saw what happened to Ryan Madson.  Things weren’t going perfectly in his contract talks and suddenly Ruben paid $50 million for Papelbon.

But he appears to walking about Jimmy’s thing with a bit more reverence, which, again, kind of slaps Ryan in the face repeatedly, but whatever, that parts over and we’re worrying about this now.

Like I said, Ruben wants everyone to know that he’s taking this seriously, and carefully, because now that Reyes is gone, Jimmy’s the best option.

Which brings us to this Aramis Ramirez character, who apparently hits pretty well, but does not move as hurriedly as Jimmy does.  So, assuming the Phillies tear the family apart and are unable to sign Jimmy to a nice, rational four-year compromise, then yes, waving at Aramis Ramirez from across the street will have proven to be intelligent foresight on their part.  Ramirez is an offensive threat, which is nice.  As the Phillies learned this year while being eliminated from baseball, offense is nice.

But so is leadership and stability.  A lot of people laugh in the face of intangibles, namely me, but that’s ridiculous because if you’ve read this blog for even a second then you know all I ever really talk about are intangibles or just wildly off-base assumptions/accusations.  But in this case, Jimmy brings a lot more than speed and defense and a fading ability to make contact with the ball.  He made us the Team to Beat.  Without him, we’re just a team.

In a division full of young whippersnappers looking to start trouble, doing everything possible to hang onto our franchise player may be the most important thing we do all winter.  Unless Ruben has some big ridiculous thing planned.  But that almost never happens.  Until the Winter Meetings are in full swing.