With the Reds heading to New York to play the Mets, general manager Walt Jocketty plans on meeting with the agents for Brandon Phillips while in the Big Apple, according to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
Seth and Sam Levinson, the agents for for Phillips, are the same pair that helped the 30-year-old second baseman work out the current four-year, $27MM contract that he's currently finishing up. It's already all but decided that the Reds will exercise Phillps' $12MM option for the 2012 season, but it's been well-publicized that Phillips would consider merely exercising the option a "slap in the face."
Current discussions are expected to be preliminary, and Jocketty tells Sheldon that the negotiations could very well carry on into the winter. We've seen a few September extensions from other teams this season (Chris Carpenter, Tim Byrdak, and Lance Berkman), but none of those three signed a deal that would be of the size or magnitude that it would require to lock up Phillips.
Phillips has certainly upped his stock in September, batting .326/.402/.628 with six homers entering play today to raise his season line to .301/.352/.459. His .811 OPS would be his highest since the .816 mark he posted in his 30-30 season in 2007, while his OPS+ of 120 would be a career-high.
“It’s already all but decided that the Reds will exercise Phillps’ $12MM option for the 2012 season, but it’s been well-publicized that Phillips would consider merely exercising the option a “slap in the face.””
I wouldn’t turn down a $12MM slap in the face.
Haven’t I read this comment before??? I would not either though. But then again I am not a successful major league player.