Early this offseason Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips found his name associated with a potential swap sending him to Atlanta, but I propose that a trade to the New York Yankees makes makes more sense for the mercurial second baseman. The Yankees have a hole at second following Robinson Cano’s departure to the Great Northwest, and have a roster brimming with outfielders. The Reds appear to have a need for a defense-first outfielder. The good news for both teams is that there’s a simple solution. The clubs simply need to swap Brandon Phillips and outfielder Brett Gardner.
The Reds have been wary of Brandon Phillips since he showed up in Spring Training in 2005 with “The Franchise” inscribed on his batting gloves, and have been shopping the second baseman following comments he made to the press after the Reds were eliminated from the postseason. Word out of the clubhouse in Cincinnati suggests that the problems with Phillips run deeper. Said one man who is in the clubhouse every day, “You can’t tell by Brandon’s face whether we won or lost, but you can tell if he went 0 for 4 or 2 for 4 no matter if we won or lost.”
Obviously, the Reds would rather deal the second baseman instead of paying a player they perceive as selfish $50 Million over the next four years.
With Shin-Soo Choo exploring his options in free agency (and the asking price reported to be quite high), the Reds have a need at the top of their lineup and in Center Field. To this point, star speedster Billy Hamilton was going to take that role, but the Reds seems less than thrilled to hand the job over to Hamilton full-time from the outset of Spring Training. Brett Gardner would bring every skill that Hamilton might have to the center field position, but with a proven track record of success. In Gardner’s last two full seasons, he’s posted OBP’s around .345, while playing outstanding defense to help make him about a 2-win player. He’s a speedster who could see his numbers jump were he to swap the dominating pitching of the AL East for the more forgiving NL Central, and play his home games at Great American SmallPark.
In this scenario, Gardner plays center and Billy Hamilton slots in to play second base. Many of Hamilton’s years as a prospect were spent as a shortstop, which should allow for an easy transition to second.
From the Yankees perspective, they’ve got to figure something out at second base (Kelly Johnson can’t play both 3B and 2B), and currently have 5-6 OFs likely expecting playing time in the outfield. Among that outfield group of Ichiro, Brett Garnder, Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Carlos Beltran, Gardner is the only one with any trade value.
In Brandon Phillips, the Yankees would be getting more than a big personality. Phillips is a four time Gold Glove winner, sports 8 straight seasons of at least 17 home runs, and until 2013 was a lock for at least 15 steals. Phillips has yet to reach his potential as a 25 HR-20SB, gold glove second baseman, but even the production he’s provided in recent seasons has been worth approximately 3.5 bWAR annually. Phillips may think himself more superstar than “very good,” but the Yankees would do very well for themselves to get a “very good” second baseman.
I asked Max (a Yankees fan) about this trade and he wanted a pitcher to even out the difference in the contracts owed to the two. Respectfully, I disagree. Gardner is only under team control for two more seasons, while Phillips’ $50 Million over the next four years seems reasonable. The difference between the two players’ years of team control offsets any unearned salary that could be due to Phillips over the next four years. Plus, I don’t think the Steinbrenners will be saying Brandon Phillips’ salary is too damn high over the course of the contract. Those curses will be reserved for A-Rod.
The Reds don’t want Brandon Phillips anymore and need an outfielder to fill Shin-Soo Choo’s shoes. The Yankees need a second baseman and have too many outfielders. Make it happen ballclubs.
***UPDATE***
After reading OTBB, Red’s GM Walt Jocketty reached out to Yankees brass to try to make the deal happen. Brandon Phillips, no trade clause in hand, attempted to re-open contract discussions as part of waiving his no-trade. The Yankees contingent, already on the fence about letting good-clubhouse-guy Brett Gardner go, called off the trade. That this post was made public about 12 hours before the reported interaction was made public leads me to one conclusion: Off The Bench made this happen. Fellow OTBB supporters, please welcome Walt Jocketty to our midst.
-Sean Morash
Stat of the Day: Chris Gruler has the second largest signing bonus in Cincinatti Reds history.
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