Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that a surprising name has popped up on the list of suitors for Omar Infante; according to Nightengale, the Reds are "quite interested" in Infante but would obviously need to move Brandon Phillips in order to pursue him (Twitter link).
The Yankees and Royals are said to be the strongest suitors for Infante at this time, with the Yankees reportedly having offered three years and $24MM to Infante shortly after Robinson Cano signed with the Mariners. Infante, however, is said to be seeking a four-year, $40MM pact similar to the extension signed by Martin Prado last winter.
Phillips' name has been on the block, and though the Reds have publicly downplayed his availability, recent reports have indicated that he's still in play. Phillips' name surfaced in a prominent rumor last night, as it was said that the Yankees turned down a swap of Phillips for Brett Gardner. There was more to the story than the initial report, as Phillips has the Yankees on his no-trade list and tried to re-open his contract talks to get more money in order to facilitate the deal.
Phillips is owed $50MM over the next four years, which isn't much more than the $40MM sought by Infante over the same term. However, such an offer doesn't appear to be on the table for Infante, so in the event that they find a taker for Phillips, perhaps the Reds could swoop in, sign Infante for $30-35MM and save $15MM or more.
i wonder if that’s to pressure the yankees to trade gardner for phillips
Very possible, since if that trade happens, it’s probably less likely the Reds move on Infante since they have Hamilton to play 2B.
Billy Hamilton is an OF, not a second baseman.
Hamilton was previously a SS. As was Phillips
I know he was, but he was moved to the outfield a few years ago by the Reds. I doubt they’ll move him back now, especially with Choo unlikely to return.
I agree with you that he will probably stay in the OF but with Jocketty being a former Card. Seeing how they are not afraid to put players out of position so the best team is on the field, maybe he should think that way again.
His natural position is 2B. They moved him to CF recently.
Hamilton’s going to be a CF though…he did start out as a SS ….
man brandon phillips must feel really unwanted right about now
I had to give you a thumbs up for that comment. It’s hilarious.
He probably feels like he’s in a Twilight Zone episode where he keeps waking up in Busch Stadium.
He could have gone with the Yanks except he wanted a new contract!
He could have gone with the Yanks except he wanted a new contract!
My guess is the Yankees will trade less than Gardner. Maybe Ichiro and a prospect or something like that.
Nathan the Yankees are not picking up Phillips $50MM plus salary over the next 4 years, period. He’s simply not worth it at this stage of his career.
If the Reds sign Infante, they might be forced to. They are still a few options like Uribe, but the Reds are clearly looking to apply pressure.
Apply pressure? That’s insane. The Reds have a 2nd baseman they are locked into for the next 4 years at an insane cost. That obviously no one else wants. The only pressure they would be applying if they were actually signed Infante is to themselves to move Phillips to someone at any price. Because lets face it no team needs two 2nd baseman both on the wrong side of 30 at the prices being mentioned.
A-Rod is worth his contract though no doubt right?
Did they call and tell you that?
Why are the Reds willing to trade Phillips. This makes absolutely no sense.
Because he’s not very good, costs a ton of money, and is a clubhouse headache
Good thing they extended him last year…with a no trade clause too? Good luck moving that Reds.
Players with no trade clauses, even full ones, can be traded. If the player would be moving to a team with better chances to compete or if the player is induced by more money/years.
As a Cubs fan I know all too well how that works out. It still has an effect on the return. Soriano turned down many offers to play for a competitor, Dempster kicked a trade last second. You have to know the player and considering Phillips wanted more money to accept a trade that wasn’t even happening, I don’t see him being very kind to the FO.
Exactly. He already has a bad relationship with them, so he’s not gonna do anything to make them happy if he doesn’t get something out of it.
.261 avg 18hrs 103 rbi! Gold Glove winner! Very Fan friendly!
How many pros, in any sport, gets a tweet from a fan to come
to their little league game and they show up! Or goes to a local high
And takes a pic with the female volleyball team that just won a state
Championship! And you never heard of any of his teammates
Saying anything bad about him. One disagreement with one reporter
Doesn’t make a clubhouse headache! Cmon lets use our brains here
Because his skills are eroding and his clubhouse demeanor isn’t exactly sterling. Add into that, the tiffs he’s had with management.
A career high in RBI’s and a Gold Glove means his skills are eroding? Hmm…what else do you know?
RBIs. Gold Gloves. I think I have a headache.
Dude votto and choo were on base in front of brandon 661 times. Still think 105 rbis is a lot?
I said career high, not a lot. Plus he dealt with a hand injury for about four months.
No sense at all. He’s probably the most popular player the Reds have, with the fans. Of course, Jockety pays no attention to that. The fans aren’t important. They just pay the bills.
As i said in last night’s story about BP and the Yankees, i think that trade gets revisited. If the Reds are truly interested in Infante, that could be a clue that it isn’t a dead trade.
It’s probably just the Reds putting pressure on the Yankees. They know NY isn’t happy with Kelly Johnson as their everday 2B and that the market is relatively thin. Signing Infante away would mean Phillips becomes one of the premier 2B available, by trade or free agency.
I’m not sure signing one player in hopes that it forces another team into a trade is very smart.
I never said it was smart. Just my interpretation of what the Reds are trying to do. I think they’re desperate to get rid of Phillips.
You are exactly right. There is NO way the Reds gamble $30M or so with an Infante signing hoping to put pressure on the Yankees. The ONLY way that Infante signs with the Reds is if Phillips is gone or they have a deal in place to move him.
yea but it also lowers the reds leverage because they have two 2nd basement with big contracts
No, Jocketty doesn’t use the media to help him pull off a trade. This is the Agent all of the way.
No, Jocketty doesn’t use the media to help him pull off a trade. This is the Agent all of the way.
People are making this stuff up. Walt never leakes anyting, so I’m assuming the agent is using the reds to get more from the Yankees. This stuff is silly. Like a soap opera. Who is sleeping with who now.
Walt is a big time media user. Always has been.
Personally, I think it’s outrageous that the Yanks won’t trade Gardner for Phillips. I’d do that any day.
Glad you aren’t the Yankees GM then
Cuz if he were, there’d be 29 GM’s on the phone right now trying to take Gardner off his hands.
Phillips was a better player than Infante when he was 16 years old.
Gardner is highly underrated and will be needed to rest Beltran, Soriano and Ichiro. He’s worth way more to the Yankees than Phillips could be.
He has one year of control. Phillips has what, 5? They have a huge hole at 2B and surplus in the OF.
Nobody wants a five years of control for an aging second baseman with diminishing skills and a bad attitude. If anything that’s a hindrance to his value, not an improvement.
Not sure why you have more down votes than up votes.
Team control is only a plus when the player is retained with a net positive value and that said value will continue for the duration of the contract.
Two examples – Longoria with a 10/$136M deal looks to be a bargain. Pujols with a 10/$240M looks to be an albatross. Both are good players, both signed for 10 years, but the dollars and expected performance over the life of the contract slant heavily in Longoria’s favor.
Ellsbury?
The Reds clearly have a very poor relationship with Phillips at the moment. If they truly want dump his contract and personality they are going to have to accept a very low return.
The Reds clearly have a very poor relationship with Phillips at the moment. If they truly want dump his contract and personality they are going to have to accept a very low return.
This piece makes absolutely no sense as others have pointed out. If previous reports are correct the Yankees have an offer on the table of 3 years $24MM to Infante. If the Reds have any hope of signing Infante they would have to beat that offer and then hope some GM wants Phillips at some ridiculous price. Ain’t gonna happen.
if the yanks get phillips, you will LOVE him. He makes 2 or 3 highlight defensive plays every week.He can bat 1thru 5 in the order, can steal 15-20 bases, hit 15-20 hrs. and drive in 80-100 rbis. He was hit on the forearm in pitt. and wasnt the same the rest of the year. He will thrive in the bronx!!
Take my word for it. I won’t love him at the expense of Gardner $50MM and 4 years of a declining 2nd baseman offensively that started 3 years ago. He’s not worth it, if he was worth the money and years the Reds wouldn’t be looking to get rid of him as much as they are.
He can do all those things, but is it worth what $8-$10MM per year for 4 years? That’s assuming the Reds eat some money. Doesn’t he have some issues in terms of clubhouse likeability? There are more than enough egos in that Yankee clubhouse as it is.
He won’t be playing in the Bronx. He’ll be playing in Cincinnati.
Ethier and cash for Phillips. Makes sense for both sides.
Which would block that Cuban kid the Dodgers signed for 4 years. Makes less sense than you believe.
I believe his name is: Alexander Guerrero
Thank you.
Because the Dodgers could go with an infield of 1B Gonzalez 2B Phillips SS Hanley 3B Guerrero. Or flip-flop the latter two depending on how they look defensively this spring.
Guerrero isn’t impressing at 2B. We have extra OF depth and need IF depth. This trade is perfect.
Hanley goes back to 3B, Guerrero gets a shot at SS, Phillips to 2B. Sign a solid bench guy or two that can cover if Guerrero isn’t working out.
As badly as the Yankees need a new 2B and as well as Phillip’s bat and glove would play in NYC, what does it say when NO ONE else wants the guy? He must be club house poison big time.
You know how ridiculous you sound Ult-yank-Fan ! 12 million is overpaying for a top 3 2nd baseman , defensively and has some pop ? Yanks overpay for most of their roster ! Someone will snag Phillips if you guys don’t . I am glad Reds didn’t get Gardener , he is a hustler but stats are very mediocre !
“Stats are very mediocre”
And Phillips stats are worse and will likely continue to get worse and his under contract 4 more years and costs $50 million
Yeah and when the yanks sign gardner to a 7 year/140 million dollar contract after this year he will likely do the same.
Top 3 2nd baseman? By what standard are you using?
WAR paints the following picture:
2013 – 12th
2012 – 5th
2011 – 5th
2010 – 7th
2009 – 10th
Using WAR (which does give him a lot of credit for his defense and base running) one might say that Phillips has historically been a top 10 2nd baseman. Unfortunately, he is on the wrong side of 30, coming off a poor season (by his standards), and making more money than the guys ahead of him on the leader board.
If Phillips stays healthy and experiences a reasonable amount of age related regression he is still a slight overpay in terms of $/WAR. The more likely scenario – his regression is faster than projected or he misses substantial time due to injury. In that case, he is clearly a negative value contributor.
Since 2008 (his 30/30 season you left off for some reason) he’s accrued more Wins than every second baseman not name Dustin Pedder or Robbie Cano.
who said it had to be the yankee’s that walt is dealing with. after being told that they were not interested maybe they have another team that is interested that isn’t on brandons list. yankee’s aren’t the only team with money these day’s and it would not surprise me if walt had other suitors
if cincy picks up infante you better believe walt has a deal in the works for brandon that he can’t turn down with his no trade clause.walt will then pull the trigger
Does anyone else think its possible Phillips had an uncharacteristically bad year at the plate due to a hand injury and very easily could rebound? He’s 32, these people act like he’s 42. He was worth on average 3 (18 million a year on the current market) wins a year before his horrendous 1.7 WAR season last year. I personally don’t think he’s declining from a .310 OBP. He needs out of Cincy because he dissed the front office not because he’s so bad the Reds can’t win with him. He’s a good hitting coach and a better plate approach from being a 3 win player next year. I see a lot of one-dimensional thinking here. He’s an excellent buy-low candidate and I don’t Infante is nearly as good. Infante had a 300 OBP in 2012 but no one gets better with age!
Buy low? He is owed $50MM. The Yankees giving up their starting CF from 2013 and taking on $50MM isn’t really buying low.
Buying low has nothing to do with what someone is owed. It refers to buying a player while his perceived value is down.
I know exactly what it means, slasher016.
When you buy low, you’re expecting to get some kind of deal — a reduced fee, as it were.
Taking on $50MM and giving up your starting CF is not the “buy low” price.
Phillips could put up a .285 , 24 HR’s and a Gold Glove , he deserves a little more respect !
Of course he could. He could also miss half the season with an injury and continue his age related regression.
You Yanks overpay for most of your roster anyway ! 12 million ain’t much on your payroll !
From what I read yankees were one of the teams listed in his no trade clause and wanted to renegotiate his contract as a condition of the trade.
that’s because bp knows yankee’s overpay everybody they have
boy i can’t believe that the yankee fan’s are talking about players being overpayed. they need to look up and down their starting lineup if they want to see overpayed. that’s is plain retarded statement they are making. and next yr i bet they lock up gardner at 5yrs 100 mil . i would just about bank on that.
They are being cost conscience for the very reasons you cite. They are up against an owner imposed cap. Just because they overpaid in the past does not mean that they throw out all fiscal sanity.
And, for the record, I hate the Yankees.
And I’ll take your bet on the Gardner prediction 🙂
Yanks will go the fourth year and sign Infante!
Yanks will go the fourth year and sign Infante!
I am a reds fan so I am biased, but I realize phillips is overpaid. Not way overpaid like everyone here makes it sound though. I would rather have bp for the length of his contract than pay infante what you have to pay him, for essentially the same (less) production with the bat or on the field. If I were the reds I would let the yankees overpay infante and move on with bp. I honestly dont think he is as big of a headache that is being reported, he does alot for the local community and prior to this season was one of the most approachable players on the team. Let them keep Gardner, who I do believe is a good and undervalued player. Kind of funny to me how all yanks fans are worried about their team being so thrifty now when they were probably clamoring for them to hand out all overpay contracts in the past. Just my .02 cents