HDWEB: The Phillies, Jimmy Rollins, and leadership shaming

In today’s HOW DARE WE ENJOY BASEBALL, we discuss the implications of the Phillies leadership shaming Jimmy Rollins, we look at a fresh crop of last-minute panic rumors, and we watch a mascot catch something in his mouth. YES!

by Justin Bopp

Mar 19, 2014, 6:05 PM UTC

Good afternoon HDWEB'ers, it's March 19th and we're talking about Jimmy Rollins. Here's everything you need to know.

If you have ideas or suggestions, send 'em my way at @justinbopp.

What the hell is happening in Philly?

STOP THIS JIMMY ROLLINS NONSENSE. STOP IT NOW! - The Good Phight
You'd think the Phillies would be celebrating the final years of one of the team's best, most loyal, most entertaining players ever. You'd be wrong.
Was this the worst Phillies offseason of all time? - The Good Phight
Betrayal, deceit, sabotage, conspiracy, disease; these are not the nouns you want attached to your baseball team.
Let's just entertain the notion that Rollins is in fact a terrible person to work with. Just for the sake of conversation. How bad could he be? I'm imagining some hellish cubicle landscape where Rollins:

-- leaves upperdeckers in the nice upstairs bathrooms that you thought nobody else knew about;

-- talks way too loud on his phone about personal issues (probably time to get that rash checked out, btw);

-- hums/sings with his headphones on and MY GOD I'm trying to get work done here (C+C Music Factory? c'mon!);

-- totally spoils Game of Thrones before you can pirate it (everybody dies);

-- "Have you heard about my Crossfit routine?"

Here’s the issue: The Phillies (Ryne Sandberg) profess some imaginary idea through words and actions that they want Rollins to be a leader, but it just doesn’t make sense. Do you really need to ask leaders to lead? Isn’t this a sham of an excuse for pushing him out anyway? It looks to me like this is the classic new-manager-is-nervous syndrome and wants to make an example out of someone valuable to the team. Maybe they’ll realize who’s boss!

More likely they’ll chase away a team treasure while debasing whatever value the club could get in return. How’s that for leadership?

h/t @EyeOnBaseball

Didi Gregorius trade rumors: Diamondbacks shop SS for pitching - MLB Daily Dish
Arizona appears to have decided to go with Chris Owings. Gregorius could bring back a pitcher to help them mitigate the loss of Patrick Corbin.
Elvis Andrus injury: What is the Rangers' contingency plan? - SBNation.com
Elvis Andrus will miss at least a couple of games with elbow tightness. If it turns out to be worse, the Rangers might turn to a pair of talented youngsters.
Astros inquiring about first basemen - MLB Daily Dish
Tyler Moore, John Mayberry Jr, and Mike Carp are among the possibilities.
Does MLB have a DUI issue? - Over the Monster
Following the fourth arrest of a Boston Red Sox during Spring Training in the last three years, it's worth taking a look at the DUI policy in Major League Baseball.
Bo Jackson says Russell Wilson should focus on football -- FOX Sports

”Twenty-five or 30 years ago when I did it -- I’m not trying to say anything negative about other athletes -- but the talent pool wasn’t that deep.
In this day and age, with all the high-tech training, computer-engineered workouts and the proper food and diet, if you try to concentrate on two sports, I guarantee you’re going to ride the bench in both because the talent is that deep. Stick to whatever sports you’re comfortable with and let everything else go.”

Bo is probably right in this particular case. I’d just note that football players have much shorter careers, are more likely to be injured, and have the lowest average salary of any of the big four sports. It’s not just as easy as talking about depth and opportunity to play.

A recent history of Billy Beane's diamonds in the rough - Athletics Nation
The A's were bad from 2007-2011, but it wasn't because Billy Beane's magical ability to root out diamonds in the rough failed him. It was because the cores of his teams repeatedly suffered massive simultaneous failures.
Why Nick Franklin hasn't been traded – a few reasonable explanations - Lookout Landing
Taking a few educated guesses at why the Mariners haven't deployed their most valuable trade asset.
The Big Questions from the 2014 SABR Analytics Conference - Baseball Prospectus
This is just a tremendous summary of (probably) the most important questions for the future of baseball and baseball analysis. You should absolutely read this when you have time.