Jimmy Rollins Official Website

The Nostradamus of the NL East pulled into spring training Tuesday.

Without his crystal ball, his Ouija Board or his deck of Tarot cards.

So where the heck were all of Jimmy Rollins' prediction gizmos, anyway?

"The magic 8-ball?" the Phillies ever-clairvoyant shortstop laughed. "Shoot. I don't know where that thing is."

Yes, sadly, it appears that Jimmy Rollins has gotten out of the prediction business -- a development that ranks as spring training's saddest development for headline writers, talk-show hosts and Mets bulletin-board monitors everywhere.

But just as Rollins always had a reason for all those mad forecasts -- "We are the team to beat" … "100 wins" … Phillies over the Yankees "in five" -- he now has a reason for giving that magic 8-ball a rest, he says.

"Now," Rollins said, "everybody knows what's needed to be done. Everybody knows what's expected. More importantly, everybody believes.… And now that we have that, it no longer needs to be said."

But just because that prediction stuff no longer needs to be said doesn't mean Rollins doesn't have ANYTHING that needs to be said. So here are his greatest hits from a 19-minute meeting with the media Tuesday:

On trading for Roy Halladay but dealing away Cliff Lee
"It's really not a bad tradeoff. We're going to miss Cliff's hitting. Those two-out doubles with me on deck. I was like, 'Why are they still pitching to this guy?' But in all seriousness, you lost a great pitcher in Cliff Lee. No doubt about that. But we picked up an even better one."

On what Jayson Werth looks like with his flowing locks and caveman beard
"He looks like the dude when you're driving down the street, hanging on the corner with a sign, trying to get some change."

On what it meant that the Phillies have already picked up his 2011 option
"Just takes the pressure off. But actually, I never even thought about it. I guess I've only been in this organization, so it's never really dawned upon me to leave."

On whether he could ever see himself playing for another team
"Well, you know, when I get older, they might boot me out or some young dude might come and run me off the block or something. That happens. … (But) some guys just look good in certain colors. And red kind of comes good off my skin."

On who's the best pitcher in the NL East -- Halladay or Johan Santana
"Overall, Roy is -- as far as pitching's concerned. But you bring in the hitting side of things and Santana gets the nod. There's no doubt about that. Roy can't hit. There's no secret there. But I texted Roy prior to getting down here and told him he's got my vote for National League rookie of the year already."

On his goals for the year
"I want to try to steal 50 bases. … I'm trying to keep the errors under three this year. That would be nice. … Still trying to score 150 runs.… Never hit .300.… And working on 200 hits. … So there are still a lot of things for me to do."

On whether he's thought back much on why he got off to such a slow start last year
"I didn't think about it during the SEASON. … I keep moving forward … If you look back behind you, you find yourself going that way."

On whether he thinks the Phillies have to win now because their nucleus might not be together much longer
"I don't really look at it that way. You never really plan on the team breaking up until it actually does. Things can happen. You find some money somewhere to give to a guy. Unfortunately, you're not going to keep everybody. But if that doesn't happen, you find somebody to step in and take his place. You know, you can look at the Atlanta Braves and those years where they had that run of just winning and winning. Even though they only won the World Series once during that time, they found a way to put things together. They had a formula there for people to step in and get it done. So as long as there are games to be played, [if] you have pitching and hitting and guys that believe, it really doesn't matter as far as the group of guys that are going to be there."

On how much better the Phillies can be now that they have Halladay
"I don't know. We were a pretty good team [last year]. We didn't play good for six games [in the World Series], but we're a pretty good team. And you pick up a guy like Roy Halladay, it's tough to say you're not better automatically. … When you get a guy like Roy Halladay, seems like that ought to be worth at least another five wins."

On how good this lineup can be, with All-Stars at seven positions
"If no one really gets cold? That's a lot of wins. We could do a lot of damage. … That's something you could dream about -- everybody just absolutely going off. It would be a lot of fun. Probably like Seattle in like '01-'02, when they just demolished everybody. That's the type of year we could have."

On what it would mean to become the first NL team since the 1940s to play in three straight World Series
"We do have a chance to do something special. Actually, [director of team travel] Frank [Coppenbarger] came and told me that National League teams that go to the World Series three years in a row win two out of three. Sounds like some pretty good odds."

Just for the record, he's right about that. The three NL teams to reach three straight World Series -- the 1942-44 Cardinals, 1921-23 Giants and 1906-08 Cubs -- all did win two out of three (although, to be technical, those Giants went four straight years, won the first two and lost the second two).

So with that clear grasp of history and what was at stake here, Jimmy Rollins was asked what his (ahem) prediction was for the season.

"You just got it," he said.

It wasn't exactly The Return of the Magic 8-Ball. But alert the bulletin-board monitors in Queens. Nostradamus is back