Reds Unlikely To Trade Brandon Phillips

[Johnnydollaz89]

WEDNESDAY: ESPN's Jayson Stark spoke with three teams that inquired on Phillips, each of which got the sense that Reds ownership wants to trade Phillips more than the front office does (Twitter link).
TUESDAY: The Reds are now unlikely to trade Brandon Phillips, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The second baseman has been in trade whispers for quite some time, but it now appears that GM Walt Jocketty & Co. will hang on to him despite a lack of available quality options at the position.
Phillips, 32, batted .261/.310/.396 with 18 home runs this season but was involved in a pair of ugly PR incidents: one in which he publicly complained about how the Reds handled his contract negotiations and another in which went on a tirade against a Cincinnati reporter for pointing to his low on-base percentage. He is owed $50MM over the final four years of his six-year, $72.5MM contract.
The Yankees and Royals have both been linked to him this offseason, but it's not known how serious things got for either team. Phillips' 2013 batting line was down from his previous six seasons in Cincinnati where he hit .280/.329/.446.

MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

After some of his comments made, thought he would be a goner, guess not.

 

[redsfan03]

Walt probably realized that there isn't a better option for second base at this particular point, much to Banana Bob's chagrin. The only way Brandon Phillips gets traded is if the Reds figure out they can sign Choo with the money saved. However, looking at Choo's asking price, I don't think the numbers would even out in the Reds' favor.

 

[JohnU]

I found the whole conversation amusing. Folks wanting to trade Phillips for a left fielder, claiming the bat would make up for the defense. Now, if that's all some people know about baseball,

trade Phillips for a left fielder who can hit and you turn the Reds into the Chicago Cubs.

 

[Redsfan1507]

This may not be a popular statement among Reds fans, but I'm going to give my opinion.

I think a lot of teams would be interested in Phillips, if all it took was half the balance of his contract, and a couple of lesser skilled players. Phillips 100 RBI were inflated by about 25 due to the almost unheard of situation of having 2 of the top 3 OBP players in front of him in the lineup. Rosenthal might be a fatass, but he's spot on in his assessment of BP's declining offensive metrics, and his 18 HR are representative of his small park predominant power. Phillips hasn't hit HR in numbers acceptable for a middle if the order hitter except a single season many years ago, and in fact is considered a non-power threat in all but small parks. He's lost his steal threat speed already, and prognosis for further decline in all aspects if his game over the balance of his career is a source of concern, given his blatant hot dog tendencies and increasingly me first dialogue. He's a trash talker who's performance has never lived up to his "swag". All that boils down to a guy in today's worth,likey isn't worth more than he's making, and definately not a solid enough player going forward to renegotiate a pricier contract, and give up a quality MLB established hitter too. It's unrealistic to think anyone would consider an impressive player in return, even for a gold glove 2b unlikely to ever hit .300, or more than 20 HR, or steal more than a few bases, ever again in his career, especially one that is apt to go off in the media about wanting MVP caliber contracts.

I understand Castellini's position, in a dream scenario where he could extract a vindictive trade of BP to some dead last MLB wasteland, and get a Bryce Harper in return..but the reality a GM has to deal with where they would trade him to Atanta for an equally unattractive Uggla contract, or to KC for two high A players or a Ludwick type role player whilr eating half of the balance of his $50M contract, just doesn't make sense. Both the team and BP are better off living up to the contract signed. The problem may be that BP obviously believed he's worth more than he is...and is willing to be public about it. Not exactly the type of leader he misguidedly belies wishing to be.

There is a lot of BS in BP. The lesson learned ? Careful what you ask for, sometimes you get it. He was happy with his deal until Votto got a bigger one. Communication has obviously been insufficient. Perhaps Castellini should have been more specific in telling him that was all the money he had for HIM, as a .267 warning track power player, and when he won an MVP and had a lifetime BA of .300, he might give him more.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The truth isn't always popular 1507.

For the 2014 season the Reds are better with BP, the same may not be true in 2015 and beyond. BP's skills are declining, metrics bare this out. It's not a knock on the guy, it's just a natural occurrence for players entering their mid 30's that aren't using PED's.

Multiple year contracts are great when the player is performing at the top of their game. They become a liability when the length of the contract outlast the skill level. A good example of this was the Griffey Jr. deal that the Reds are still paying $3.5M yearly for the next 10 years.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Big baseball contracts are weird, they pay the most at the back end, when they usually are the worst value. The deferred contracts payments are like still making the car payment with the car in the junkyard, but they do allow more current cash to be available. What really amazes me is the relatively recent willingness to eat large portions of contracts and trade a player away to basically pay them to play against you, often with little immediate return in talent. It sounds like throwing good money after bad to me.

 

[JohnU]

I agree, and everyone does, that BP's skills are in decline. Hell, so are some of mine.
That established, the idea that we can dump him, hope to find something useful at 2B and magically replace all that with a great MVP left fielder ... the wrong windmill, IMO.

At worst, Phillips could play left field. It's just easier to find another left fielder in the basketful of them that are out there than to hope that somebody might eventually be at BP's level at 2B.

Beyond 2014, yeah, work for an upgrade. The tradeoff to that is to replace him with a guy who won't be READY until 2015, so ... pay me now or pay me later.

But I don't trade MLB-seasoned 2B, regardless of their bat, for a left fielder. I cannot believe the Reds have spent the last 7 years looking for somebody to play LEFT FUCKING FIELD. Bring a bat and we'll talk.

If I already HAVE a left fielder, I trade Phillips for a real nice glove to play 2B, and hope the guy can hit.

Right after I teach the rest of the team how to hit.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Lotsa guys that can pick in on infield D. Hitters that can are rare. Even BP's pedestrian .260/18 is pretty good in comparison. Not many SB's, walks or clutch performances and being 32 yrs old, with questionable motovation and communication skills knock him down a peg or three from the elite 2b's though.