Rollins predicts 100 wins for the Phillies

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Jimmy Rollins walked out a back door of the Phillies' clubhouse and the cameras followed him because the cameras always follow Jimmy Rollins. He sat on a blue picnic bench, the very spot where a year ago he declared he was out of the prediction business. It turns out he was lying then.

"Yeah, we'll win 100 games," Rollins said Saturday.

It was "We're the team to beat" but with an even greater confidence. That's already understood. Now, Rollins says, the Phillies are not only going to beat you, they will beat you over and over again.

Rollins is convinced of this. He is also sure as he approaches free agency for the first time in his career that he controls his own destiny with the Phillies.

"If I have a good year, I'll probably spend the rest of my career here," Rollins said. "There's no doubt about it. And if I don't, it'll be a tough decision for them."

There are no guarantees for Rollins, who played in a career-low 88 games in 2010 and has failed to come even close to the lofty numbers he had during the MVP season of 2007. But the shortstop said he spent the off-season making up for lost time.

He began taking yoga classes and followed an ambitious program designed by his wife, Johari. "You ask yourself," Rollins said, " 'Why do people like this?' "

He started running long distances, a five-mile trek twice a week. "I don't like running distances," Rollins said. "I'm a sprinter, and I love to sprint."

He came to Florida nearly two weeks before the mandatory reporting date. Typically, Rollins is one of the last players to arrive. "I missed a lot of time last year," Rollins said, "so there's no time to take time off."

Rollins has no trouble saying the right things, and Saturday was no exception. Last winter, he was married on the Cayman Islands, came to camp somewhat out of shape, and then suffered recurring calf and hamstring injuries during the season.

With a contract on the line and his future with the Phillies in question, there is little room for error. In the final season of a six-year, $46.5 million deal, he will earn $8.5 million.

Rollins turned 32 in November. Should he have a decent season, the Phillies will likely seek a multiyear extension. That would be the most convenient outcome for the franchise. There is no replacement at shortstop from within, unless Freddy Galvis, a career .233 hitter in the minors, shows significant improvement at the plate.

Does Rollins have something to prove in 2011?

"No, not any more than I've had to prove every year," he said. "My whole life I always feel like I've had something to prove. That's the chip you have to play with. If you want to be the best, you have to go and prove it. People aren't going to give you that title. That's still my intention."

Rollins was asked if he could imagine himself not being a part of the Phillies, the only organization he has ever known. He started to get sentimental, recalling when a wide-eyed 17-year-old kid first arrived at the Carpenter Complex in Clearwater wishing he was playing for a team on the West Coast - or a team that won, like the Atlanta Braves.

Now? Jimmy Rollins embodies the Phillies' rise from irrelevancy to the model franchise of the National League. And if this is to be his final season in Philadelphia, maybe his departure would mark the beginning of the next chapter.

He isn't counting on that.

"I don't imagine myself anywhere else," Rollins said. "But that's completely up to me. If I do what I'm supposed to do, I probably won't have to worry about that."

Read The Inquirer's Phillies blog, "The Phillies Zone," every day at http://go.philly.com/pzone. Click on the link to download the Philly Pro Baseball 2011 app to bring exclusive spring training coverage straight to your iPhone, iPod Touch, or Android phone.

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