Rumors Heating up Concerning Rollins’ Return to Philly

Though we're hearing that "money and length" are the sticking points of the ongoing Jimmy Rollins-Philadelphia Phillies free agent talks—as if that was really "breaking" news—we're also hearing that Jimmy might be on his way back to town...maybe.

Jim Bowden of ESPN sent out a tweet at about 5 p.m. Wednesday evening that the Phillies had agreed to terms with their free agent shortstop. Unfortunately for anyone who had their hopes up, the rumor—first posted by MLB.com's Jim Duquette—was immediately squashed by a number of sources, including Bowden's own ESPN colleague Jayson Stark.

Though this particular report might not be true at this particular time, it isn't the only piece of news released in the last few hours indicating the Jimmy would be back with the club next season. [more below]

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Word got out yesterday that Rollins and his agent Don Lozano were in discussions with the Milwaukee Brewers to see if Young James might be the right fit to fill their need at short. With that in mind, Bowden's above tweet—along with its subsequent denials—comes on the heels of Brewers' beat writer Tom Haurdicourt's earlier report that the negotiations between Rollins and the Milwaukee front office had seemingly ended with the Rollins on his way back to the Phillies.

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@Haudricourt
Tom#Brewers hearing that Jimmy Rollins is staying with Phillies, so looks like he's out as possible SS option. Furcal, Gonzalez, Yuni left.
Dec 07 via webFavorite Retweet Reply

As Grant Brisbee over at Baseball Nation pointed out, Haudricourt's report may be influenced by some members of the Milwaukee organization who have the benefit of being a little more candid in regard to the status of the negotiations, especially if they feel as though they—the Brewers—are out of the running.