OT: Scott Rolen Phillies question

[saturdaysarebetter]

I'm currently reading Feeding the Monster about the Red Sox and in it, there's mention of Scott Rolen not being happy in Philadelphia and that he would rather become a free agent than sign a 10-year $140 million dollar deal with the Phillies. What was the relationship with Rolen and the Phillies and/or Philadelphia to make it sound like he wanted out of Philadelphia?

Thank you in advance.

 

[s1uggo72]

I'm currently reading Feeding the Monster about the Red Sox and in it, there's mention of Scott Rolen not being happy in Philadelphia and that he would rather become a free agent than sign a 10-year $140 million dollar deal with the Phillies. What was the relationship with Rolen and the Phillies and/or Philadelphia to make it sound like he wanted out of Philadelphia?

Thank you in advance.

I think it was all over $$$

 

[Colt2169]

I'm currently reading Feeding the Monster about the Red Sox and in it, there's mention of Scott Rolen not being happy in Philadelphia and that he would rather become a free agent than sign a 10-year $140 million dollar deal with the Phillies. What was the relationship with Rolen and the Phillies and/or Philadelphia to make it sound like he wanted out of Philadelphia?

Thank you in advance.

They (the Phillies) did NOT invest in the team in those days.

It wasn’t about HIM personally getting a ton of money - it was about the investment if ownership overall.

Then when he got to St Louis and eventually got like a $90m contract people said he could have gotten more and he asked what he needed more for.

So it was all about ownerships investment- he would have stayed if Middleton was the owner back then !

 

[LionsAndBears]

Rolen wanted to play for a winning franchise which wasn't Philly back then. He didn't see any supporting cast on the way so he wanted out. Also, being from Indiana, he preferred the Midwest.

 

[MrTailgate]

A sensitive and complicated individual is the best I can say. My take is that he was not completely comfortable with being anointed early on as the face of the franchise with a ton of marketing being focused on him immediately. I think he was a guy who just viewed himself as a baseball player and being part of a team. My guess is that he felt the team was making him the savior when he was just a young player trying to start his career.

Bowa was maybe not the best guy to manage him and he reached a point of no return on how the front office handled the extension issue. A story I heard about this from inside could not be more representative of the dysfunction between front office and player. You just had to shake your head. I think it made Rolen withdraw even more and become even more untrusting of everything connected with the Phillies. Early on, he was very open and connected to the fans; near the end far from it.

I do think that Rolen was genuinely touched by being placed in the Wall of Fame and I think there is a chance the relationship thaws maybe to the point that the Wall ceremony is not the last time you see him in Philly. I have long thought that he could be the PERFECT resource for Bohm and Miller in maybe a Spring instructor capacity. He has so much to offer.

He should have played his entire career in Philly and 17 should be up on wall. It just wasn’t meant to be.