It wasn’t the story of the year or anything–that award clearly goes to the B-horror flick swarming through Scottsdale–but when Jimmy Rollins re-signed with the Phillies, we all were tickled pink. Yes, the market for shortstops had shrunk a bit. Yes, he said he had been close to going to Milwaukee. Yes, he had us all chewing through our finger nails and into our fingers until were a bunch of short-nubbed freak shows, riddled with anxiety. But in the end, Jimmy jumped back on board where he belongs and was one of the only high profile extensions of the winter that saw a star player return to his original team.
And so we all tickled our keyboards and frolicked about the glorious needle-strewn fields of Philadelphia. Sure, some of us contracted horrible, as-yet-unnamed diseases. Who cares?! Jimmy’s back! *Coughs up blood*
But the signing meant different things to different people. For us, it was relief. For Jimmy, it was relief. For Freddy Galvis, the shortstop of the future, however, the future got a little further away.
It seems as though we are at the point where we will start getting to know Freddy much clearer than before. The 22-year-old might even see Major League action this season with Wilson Valdez in Cincinnati, but with J-Roll in Philadelphia, he will be doing it most of it from the background. But for the most part, what we have been told about Freddy makes it seem like he is a an enormous, anthropomorphic baseball glove that swallows grounders for breakfast, but, when tasked with a plate appearance, crumbles and dies.
He upped his game in 2011, and with Jimmy at the negotiating table, it seemed as though Freddy’s future was being written amidst the sheer fun of contract season. Until, of course, Jimmy came back. And now, Freddy is forced to bear another year of minor league baseball and acting as personal security for the Major League club, which I assume they do.
Or… is he?!?
Freddy’s reaction to the Rollins news must have been a casual nod, a grabbing of his always-nearby glove, and a trot out to the home made infield in his backyard, where he immediately began working on fielding balls at second and third base, neither of which are his natural position. Yet.
The Phillies, on the other hand, have not mentioned yet whether one of their few remaining position prospects will be asked to switch to a position where no one is currently playing for three years and $33 million. But Galvis seems willing to play wherever he’s needed. Or become a productive hitter. Or kill one of Ruben Amaro’s enemies. It’s all game on the road to The Show! What classic baseball scenario doesn’t involve a murder for hire, I ask you?