Will Jimmy Rollins remain with the Phillies?

With the Phillies season rapidly going downhill one has to wonder: will Philadelphia Phillies’ shortstop Jimmy Rollins will be around in 2015? Or even for the rest of the 2014 season?

The Phillies are 24-33 going into today’s game against the Washington Nationals. They are sitting in last place in the National League East, six and a half games behind the first place Atlanta Braves. With their playoff hopes quietly slipping away ESPN.com’s A.J. Mass speculates that there could be “a sell off on the horizon” for Philadelphia. Still two questions remain a “sell off” to come to fruition.

The first is how much can the Phillies really expect to get for Rollins? He’s having a good season and is only eight hits shy of tying Mike Schmidt for the Phillies’ franchise record to the player with the most base hits. He is aging at 35-years old but he is a three time All-Star, former N.L. MVP and four time Gold Glove Award winner.

His trade value however is greatly diminished, as ESPN.com’s Buster Olney points out, by the fact that he is just 200 plate appearances short of having a 2015, $11 million dollar vesting option kick in. Chances are he will get those appearances. If traded Rollins’ potential new team would have to take that on. The Detroit Tigers might be interested in Rollins having recently received news that shortstop Jose Iglesias will not be returning this season, leaving them with a gaping hole at the position. The team also has the money to spend to fill that hole.

More importantly is the answer to the question: Will Rollins approve the trade? He has 10-5 service time rights, meaning any trade must first be approved by Rollins because he has spent more than ten years in the league and at least five with the same team. Rollins has been with the Phillies for his entire 15-year career. He has said repeatedly, as recently as during spring training when there were reports of conflict between Rollins and manager Ryne Sandberg, that he has no interest in being traded and would never approve a trade. So that is that.

You never know though. There is always a chance that Rollins may approve a trade if he was going to a playoff bound team but then again maybe not.