The Jimmy Rollins Trade May Need to Be Reworked
We were all sad when reports surfaced last week that the Phillies would be trading Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers. We even mourned him in animated GIF format!
But it’s now been a week. And the trade hasn’t gone through yet. In the deal, the Phillies would send Rollins to the Dodgers for two minor league pitchers, Zach Eflin and Tom Windle.
The holdup is due to a related Dodgers-Padres trade the teams are attempting to finalize. The Dodgers don’t actually have Zach Eflin yet; he’s on the Padres. Those two teams are attempting to complete a deal that would send the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp (as well as catcher Tim Federowicz and a cool $32 million) to the Padres for Elfin, catcher Yasmani Grandal pitching prospect Joe Wieland.
So many names! But why the hold up? Before trades can be consummated, players have to take physicals. Today, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports the Padres are concerned with Kemp’s health: A medical exam found evidence of two severely arthritic hips.
The Padres had hoped to announce the Kemp trade today. The deadline to complete this deal is today.
If that trade does fall apart, the Phillies and Dodgers would have to rework their trade. FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal says if the trade falls apart the Dodgers would “respond in strongest possible fashion” toward the Padres.
