TORONTO — Scott Rolen, the Toronto Blue Jays' latest acquisition, displayed a playful manner when introduced as the team's new third baseman at the Rogers Centre Tuesday night.
"I couldn't believe I passed my physical," the oft-injured 32-year-old said amid laughter when asked how his recovery from shoulder surgery last September was progressing.
It was the second time in as many years that Rolen's left shoulder had been repaired.
His injury record gave many pause for thought when Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi took the risk of trading slugging third baseman Troy Glaus to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for the seven-time Gold Glove recipient.
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"He's more of a complete player," Ricciardi said of stocky Rolen.
"We just feel really solid with what he brings to the table."
After pulling on a Jays jersey with the number 33 on the back — a choice he said was made by his three-year-old daughter, Raine — Rolen proclaimed himself fit and ready to return to the form that made him an all-star as recently as 2006.
"I believe that I am as strong and I know I feel as good and as strong as I've been in the last three years, by far," he said. "I need to play baseball and be a dirt bag."
That is the term Ricciardi used to describe Rolen's hurly-burly style of play. The general manager said it also applies to shortstop David Eckstein, who signed a free-agent contract with the Jays in December.
Eckstein and Rolen patrolled the left side of the infield for the Cardinals when they won the National League championship in 2004.
Ricciardi believes their moxie gives the Blue Jays hope for overhauling the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in the competitive American League East in 2008.
"If you look at the division we play in, Boston has a bunch of dirt bags, the Yankees have a bunch of dirt bags," Ricciardi said. "We have some, but we need more."
Rolen began his professional career in 1996 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
He was traded in July of 2002 to the Cardinals with Doug Nickle and cash for Placido Polanco, Mike Timlin, and Bud Smith.
Toward the end of his tenure in Philadelphia, Rolen did not get along with manager Larry Bowa. The same thing happened in St. Louis with Tony La Russa, to the point where Rolen told the organization heading into the off-season he would be willing to forgo his no-trade clause if the Cardinals could work out a trade.
As for Toronto manager John Gibbons, Rolen said he's only spoken to him once by telephone since the trade. "I'm thinking he might be from the South," Rolen joshed.
"I actually don't feel like I have a problem playing for managers," he continued. "But people might think otherwise. I don't feel that I'm necessarily an overly difficult person to get along with."
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