Philadelphia Phillies may look to hire third baseman Scott Rolen during offseason - MLB Update
Veteran third baseman Scott Rolen can draw the attention of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The club is looking for reliable third basemen at the moment. After they got rid of Placido Polanco, who performed this role for them last year, the shortage of options has reached such a level that the Phillies can pay heed to even those choices that they
would ignore otherwise.
Rolen is on the brink of leaving Major League Baseball. After years of his presence there, he is declining at the moment.
His offensive and defensive capabilities have not helped the team for which he played over the last few years.
In case he is not offered a desired deal in the offseason by any team, he will most probably abandon playing. The Phillies can prolong his career by granting him one or two years deal.
The kind of situation the Phillies face right now, even if they acquire a relatively unreliable third baseman like Rolen, it will not be wrong for them. Even as back-up, Rolen has a lot to offer.
In the time of injuries to main players, he can step up. With his experience, he can minimise the damage. Most importantly, the Phillies can obtain him at a relatively inexpensive price.
As opposed to approaching high priced free agent third basemen in the market, Philadelphia can increase options for their team by spending a little amount of money.
The fact that the rest of the third basemen available in the market are not highly competent gives strength to the suggestion that Rolen can prove to be a utility player.
This offseason, free agents in the infield have been high in demand despite the fact that most of them are at-best just above average players.
In light of this, there are greater chances that the Phillies acquire a player in the market who is not as capable as they may think, mounting the risk of overpaying some individuals on the roster.
As far as Rolen is concerned, he is more likely heading toward retirement if he is not attended to by the teams.
His value due to his being a third baseman has risen greatly thanks to the paucity of options in this position at the moment.
It will be interesting to see how he capitalises on it.
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