Ryne Sandberg Appears To Be Feuding With His Star Player

Ryne Sandberg is entering his first full season as the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies and he’s already got a rather large problem on his hands. It appears the Hall-of-Famer is having a bit of a feud with his starting shortstop, Jimmy Rollins.

The rift between Sandberg and his player appears to be over playing time this spring, with the veteran team leader and long time starting shortstop a bit confused as to why he’s been benched for three straight games.

Sandberg, according to Hardball Talk seems rather frustrated with Rollins‘ lack of effort and energy. We say “seems” because Ryne isn’t actually talking about what the problem is or why Freddy Galvis is getting the majority of the playing time this spring.

After the Phillies’ last game, yet another loss during a 3-10 start to Spring Training, Sandberg talked glowingly about Galvis commenting on his “energy” and his “positive influence on everyone around him.” When Ryne Sandberg was asked about Jimmy Rollins and whether or not he provided those things to the team, he gave a short “no comment.”

Jimmy was later asked about Sandberg’s apparent lack of confidence in his long time Phiadelphia player. Yahoo Sports reports it was clear that the shortstop isn’t very happy with his manager these days.

“Well, everyone is allowed to have their own opinion,” Rollins said Thursday. “It doesn’t make it right, but he’s the manager so he gets to have the last say.”

It goes without saying that a longstanding feud between Sandberg and the 35-year-old Rollins isn’t going to sit well in Philadelphia’s clubhouse. The shortstop has been with the team quite a bit longer than Ryne has and that could grow into a real problem should the two men continue to be at odds.

Jimmy did point out that he understands there is a bit of a learning curve, both for him and for Sandberg. Ryne hasn’t been the manager for all that long so the players aren’t used to Sandberg and Sandberg isn’t used to the players.

There is also the possibility that the dispute between the two is much ado about nothing. The Philadelphia superstar is apparently starting Thursday’s game.

Jimmy Rollins is on the list of players scheduled to make trip to Bradenton tomorrow, so he’s likely back in starting lineup then.

— Ryan Lawrence (@ryanlawrence21) March 13, 2014

The question now is whether or not Sandberg has inserted him back in the lineup for good or whether Ryne is just giving Galvis a day off. Jimmy doesn’t seem too worried about his starting spot. If Ryne Sandberg actually does name him a bench player once the season rolls around, the feud could begin in earnest.