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So there's an article on ESPN (BBTN Clubhouse) about how Scott Rolen's "calming presence" and his hitting and D are helping the Reds keep atop the NL Central, and my response is a swift, immediate "I hate you, Scott Rolen, you whiny, traitorous bastard."

Is that unjustified?

I'd say winning is the best calming presence. It's all boners and giggles until something doesn't go Rolen's way and then he turns into a "whiny, traitorous bastard". I can't shake the feeling that he was going through the motions in Toronto and his last days in St. Louis.

Rolen was great here and was an amazing fielder.

He wanted to be closer to his family and he requested a trade. He never made it public and he played hard every night. You have to respect that.

I know hes been injured a lot, but is he a hall of famer?

Rolen's would have a shot at the HOF if he had a couple of more seasons like he's having now but otherwise i don't see it. He's also not the best defensive 3rd basemen of his era like so many people say, that would be Adrian Beltre

darth_federer wrote:Rolen was great here and was an amazing fielder.

He wanted to be closer to his family and he requested a trade. He never made it public and he played hard every night. You have to respect that.

I know hes been injured a lot, but is he a hall of famer?

Oh, I'm massively overreacting, it's just that we had a GG 3B who averages .284 and 25 HR a year, and it really pisses me off that a professional sports player can't deal with being away from his family while we pay him millions of dollars a year to play a game from April to October. Suck it up.

Avenger wrote:Rolen's would have a shot at the HOF if he had a couple of more seasons like he's having now but otherwise i don't see it. He's also not the best defensive 3rd basemen of his era like so many people say, that would be Adrian Beltre

It's debatable. We don't have UZR numbers before 2002 when Rolen was in his prime. Beltre's career UZR/150 is 15.5. Rolen's is 14.1, but with the pre-2002 seasons, Rolen is probably ahead.

tsherkin wrote:Oh, I'm massively overreacting, it's just that we had a GG 3B who averages .284 and 25 HR a year, and it really pisses me off that a professional sports player can't deal with being away from his family while we pay him millions of dollars a year to play a game from April to October. Suck it up.

You're being rather harsh. His wife has to raise the kids by herself for more half the year and that's not an easy thing if you ask any mother. Plus his kids are spending most of the year (even during the offseason, someone of rolen's caliber is quite busy I'm sure) without the father presence in their home. No amount of money makes that an easy thing to bear for the entire family.

DonYon wrote:You're being rather harsh. His wife has to raise the kids by herself for more half the year and that's not an easy thing if you ask any mother. Plus his kids are spending most of the year (even during the offseason, someone of rolen's caliber is quite busy I'm sure) without the father presence in their home. No amount of money makes that an easy thing to bear for the entire family.

The phrase "that's nice" comes to mind. He's being paid a salary of millions of dollars to deal with issues precisely like this. I don't care about his family, I don't care about his feelings, I care about him conducting himself professionally and producing for the team. Didn't want to travel? Suck it up. Players are babied way too much and it irritates me.

It isn't easy, but them's the breaks, kid... It's the pros, deal with it, or hand back the money from your contract. Or get a no-trade clause in your contract and try to get a deal from your home town.

But whining out of your time in another city is pathetic, even if he did it behind closed doors.

Seriously. Being away from your family is part of the job. You can't expect to make millions and work from home too. He waived his NTC to come to Toronto from St. Louis after all and he talked up a good game in his first presser about how his family was fitting into TO. Then as soon as things didn't pan out his away, he bailed just like he has done with every other team he's been on.

How is it his fault that JP was stupid enough to trade him away? He didn't try to hold out or anything.

I think the more reasonable explanation is that he's finally healthy for the first time in years and hitting in an absolute bandbox, no?

now and 4 life wrote:How is it his fault that JP was stupid enough to trade him away? He didn't try to hold out or anything.

You think trading Scott Rolen was JP's idea?

dont get me wrong but there was a time when everyone wanted Rolen out of Toronto...... try to remember

how things change eh

Randle McMurphy wrote:

now and 4 life wrote:How is it his fault that JP was stupid enough to trade him away? He didn't try to hold out or anything.

You think trading Scott Rolen was JP's idea?

Who's do you think it was?

now and 4 life wrote:

Randle McMurphy wrote:

now and 4 life wrote:How is it his fault that JP was stupid enough to trade him away? He didn't try to hold out or anything.

You think trading Scott Rolen was JP's idea?

Who's do you think it was?

Uh, well other than Scott Rolen's (who wanted out), how about the higher-ups that told him to dump Alex Rios and Scott Rolen's contracts in order to save money and begin a rebuild?

If you're going to hate on JP, the least you could do is hate on him for things he was actually responsible for.

number15 wrote:dont get me wrong but there was a time when everyone wanted Rolen out of Toronto...... try to remember

how things change eh

When was this?

Randle McMurphy wrote:Uh, well other than Scott Rolen's (who wanted out), how about the higher-ups that told him to dump Alex Rios and Scott Rolen's contracts in order to save money and begin a rebuild?

If you're going to hate on JP, the least you could do is hate on him for things he was actually responsible for.

Second this notion; it's pretty well-documented that Rolen asked for a trade. There are many things to dislike about JP's reign but Randle's right, Rolen wasn't Ricciardi's fault.

Someone said he's not the best defensive 3rd baseman of his generation, but I can't think of anyone I would rather have there. Maybe it's just me.

tsherkin wrote:

Randle McMurphy wrote:Uh, well other than Scott Rolen's (who wanted out), how about the higher-ups that told him to dump Alex Rios and Scott Rolen's contracts in order to save money and begin a rebuild?

If you're going to hate on JP, the least you could do is hate on him for things he was actually responsible for.

Second this notion; it's pretty well-documented that Rolen asked for a trade. There are many things to dislike about JP's reign but Randle's right, Rolen wasn't Ricciardi's fault.

In the past year, people have attributed the decisions to dump Rios, trade Halladay, trade Rolen, and the failed draft signings all to JP. Makes you wonder where they're getting their info. Oh, right, the Toronto media.

Hoopstarr wrote:In the past year, people have attributed the decisions to dump Rios, trade Halladay, trade Rolen, and the failed draft signings all to JP. Makes you wonder where they're getting their info. Oh, right, the Toronto media.

I can believe a lot of things about JP. I can also believe a lot of things about the Toronto sports media, which rarely merits any sort of serious respect. Ricciardi is certainly the guy who authored the trade, and the return was certainly unimpressive, but it does bear all the fingerprints of a trade that was kind of forced and rushed as a result of internal pressure. I don't think we can lay that one on Ricciardi.