DEC. 19, 2:31pm: Phillips wanted an extension as a condition of his approval of the trade, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets. As Heyman notes, it’s not surprising the Nationals balked — Phillips is already owed $27MM over the next two seasons, already a significant amount given his age and his somewhat uneven recent offensive performances. Phillips is arguably close to being worth the money he’s due, but asking to be extended even further than his age-35 season was asking a lot.
12:35pm: The Nationals are “moving on” from Phillips and will pursue other options, perhaps Howie Kendrick or a trade, Rosenthal reports (Twitter links). Daniel Murphy is perhaps another possibility, although a lower-priority one. In any case, while Rosenthal notes the possibility that talks between the Nationals and Reds could resurface at some point, a trade between the two clubs does not seem likely right now.
DEC. 18, 4:11pm: The Reds are expected to give Phillips some form of incentives to waive his no-trade rights, but there’s been no progress made on those talks to this point, according to James Wagner of the Washington Post (links to Twitter).
1:43pm: Sources tell MLB.com’s Bill Ladson that it’s very likely at this point that Phillips will waive his no-trade protection and allow a deal to be finalized.
9:59am: The Nationals are waiting to hear whether the Reds will be able to work out an arrangement with Phillips to get him to waive his no-trade clause, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports on Twitter. There are still “lots of hurdles” remaining, Buster Olney of ESPN.com tweets.
DEC. 17: The Nationals and Reds “apparently” have an agreement on a trade that would send second baseman Brandon Phillips from Cincinnati to D.C., according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (links to Twitter). However, Phillips has yet to waive the full no-trade protection that comes with his 10-and-5 rights (that is, 10 years of Major League service, the past five of which have come with one team). Talks with Phillips himself are in progress, per Rosenthal, who notes that Phillips accepted deferrals in his contract with the Reds under the assumption that he would remain in Cincinnati for the duration of the deal. Some kind of financial compensation might be necessary in order to get Phillips to OK the deal, Rosenthal adds.
Phillips, 34, would give the Nationals the second base upgrade they’ve reportedly been seeking. His addition would allow the Nats to open the season with Danny Espinosa at shortstop, thereby giving top prospect Trea Turner some additional minor league development time. While acquiring Phillips wouldn’t add the balance Washington has been pursuing — he’d be yet another right-handed mix added to a group that includes Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Michael A. Taylor — he would provide a steady defensive presence that enjoyed an offensive rebound in many ways in 2015.
The 2014 season was perhaps Phillips’ worst since establishing himself as a regular in the Major Leagues, as he batted just .266/.306/.372. His eight homers that season were the fewest he’d ever posted in a full big league campaign. The 2015 season looked more like the Phillips to which we’ve become accustomed over the life of his Cincinnati tenure, however, as his bat bounced back with a .294/.328/.395 batting line, 12 homers and 23 steals — a significant improvement from the uncharacteristic two stolen bases he recorded in 2014. His 10.9 percent strikeout rate was also the lowest of his career. Perennially regarded as a strong defender — Phillips does have four Gold Glove Awards — he recorded positive marks in both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating for the ninth consecutive season in 2015.
On the negative side of things, Phillips will turn 35 next June and has indeed seen those defensive ratings begin to deteriorate, to some extent. Never known as a patient hitter, Phillips’ 4.3 percent walk rate in 2015 was the worst of his career, and if his batting average dips back toward its career mark of .273 this season, Phillips could struggle to muster a .300 OBP. And, while his contract certainly isn’t outlandish — he’s owed a reasonable enough $13MM in 2016 and $14MM in 2017 — he also wouldn’t come cheaply to a Nationals club that has just under $100MM committed to 10 players for the 2016 season, plus a projected $31.2MM owed to another six.
That figure, of course, is before considering any type of financial compensation that may need to go his way. For example, the Nats agreed to exercise Jonathan Papelbon‘s club option three months in advance in order to get the closer to waive his own no-trade rights. While Phillips doesn’t have an option in his contract that can be exercised in similar fashion, the Nats could restructure his contract in some fashion in order to more amply compensate him over the two seasons he’d spend with the team in the event of a trade.
If he accepts it, it would be a good pickup for the reds. They’re having a hell of a fire sale this year
And they’ve just added Jose Peraza from the Dodgers in the three team deal involving Todd Frazier. I’m sure they’d love to get him as many at bats as possible and get him used to playing before meaningful games come back to Cincy.
With Suarez, Peraza, and top prospect Alex Blandino (currently in AA) all being candidates to play 2b by 2017 some versatility at the position would be welcome. As long as Phillips is around he’s entrenched at the position where the organization arguably has the most depth.
If Phillips vetos the trade Peraza needs to move back to shortstop.
Well BP posted on twitter about an hour before this post about moving from 513 (Cincinnati area code) to 202 (DC area code) so it seems he’s waived the no trade rights.
His post implies that he’s traveling to DC on an airplane, perhaps to meet with Nationals officials, rather than that he’s already consented to waive his no-trade clause and become a National. Seemingly he’s giving it some serious consideration, but there hasn’t been any indication that he’s accepted yet.
He met with Lerner, Rizzo and Baker according to the Post. Obviously wasn’t impressed.
If BP agrees to be traded, what type of return will the reds get? maybe a mid-level prospect? minor league outfielder like possibly Brian Goodwin?
Someone like Goodwin makes sense to me. He’ll never make it to the bigs in DC. We have a good amount of outfielders that have passed him on the prospect list and drafted 2 in the early rounds this past summer.
I don’t understand this from the Nationals’ perspective. I would rather start Espinosa and Turner than Phillips and Espinosa from a pure talent perspective, regardless of salary considerations. I suppose Phillips is a marginal upgrade over Espinosa, but it isn’t one I’d be willing to take on more than a few million bucks in salary for, much less give up talent.
They won’t give up any talent that matters.
Turner isn’t MLB ready tho.
Never heard that one before. Turner looks perfectly ready to be the Nats full time SS in 2016. Phillips would be an excellent mentor/middle inf partner.
They are keeping him down until the middle of the season, presumably for service time considerations.
That’s been pretty much the consensus that they are looking a BP or Murphy to play 2b so that Turner has more time in the minors.
It’s iffy. He did everything right in the minors, but batted in the .220s in his time with the Nats. Granted he was getting virtually no playing time even though they were falling way behind the Mets,.But in his at bats he got, most of the time he didn’t even take the bat off his shoulder.
One aspect of this trade, that people are not seeming to understand nor mention, is that this trade will allow the Nats to put a temporary hault and hindrance on Turner’s service time clock….
Do not discount the importance that fact has on the makings of this trade.
Yes, the Nats might could use someone like a Brandon Phillips at 2B, while sliding Espinosa over to SS, but Trea Turner also showed he was PLENTY CAPABLE and ready to take hold of the SS position last year!
To me, and in my opinion, this move just screams that the Nats want to keep Turner’s service time down…I’m just about 80% sure that is where the main motivation for this trade originates from.
Tell us about the other 20% of you that has a chance of being right…
This is correct. Turner will remain in AAA until I believe around June 1 so as to avoid triggering the service clock.
It’s still a gamble that Espinosa can hit well enough to be a positive player, but I suppose two months of a defense-first SS might be nice for a change. Their infield defense ought to be very good now. Of course, it all starts with the Nats being uncomfortable with playing Escobar anywhere near 2nd or short. They can probably afford to pay enough so they don’t give up anyone the can use – I would kind of be surprised if it was someone even as high up on the prospect list as Goodwin, but he”s stagnating in the Nats farm, and at least he had a hitting spurt in winter ball that makes him look better..
That’s just the reality of how MLB teams decide when to bring a player to the big leagues. The Nats are far from being the only team to do that.
So they are going to takr on Phillips’ contract to save a few million bucks in 6 years?
You would rather start career 87 OPS+ Espinosa over Phillips? A career .230/.301/.391 hitter…….ok
I cant believe what a loser Eppler is. Another opp to fill a hole and take a short term commitment and nothing. Cant wait to see what platoon if we pick up monday.
You mean compared to Dipoto who is filling Seattle with nothing but platoon players? I laugh at how most Angels fans. You complain when the Angels sign free agents, or trade prospects for proven players. Then complain about it when they don’t. The Angels are more than likely going to bring back Kendrick. And trade for a left fielder.
If the trade don’t go through, the angels could swoop in and make a deal
Hope Nats don’t give up much for him. He owed 27 million and they already have Peraza ready to play. Plus the fact that he has to waive his no trade clause should keep the trade cost down.
The Reds have Peraza. ….and he’s not “ready to play”…..his bat needs more seasoning. Curious trade by the Nats in my eyes…..didn’t solve the lefty bat issue….but does give Turner more seasoning as well. But the Nats traded away Escobar, then traded for Phillips. ….Mmmmm…
Philips is a better defender than Escobar plus Rizzo was able to help rebuild his bullpen with Gott(5 years of control) in the trade. Rendon is a “gold glove caliber” third baseman and Escobar wasn’t comfortable playing second.
If you mean Peraza’s approach to hitting needs more seasoning (as in actually learning what a bases on balls is) then I’d readily agree. If you are saying anything about his ability to hit the actual ball needs more seasoning then I’d tend to disagree. Peraza has pretty good contact rates and averages through out his time in the minors. He probably won’t ever have much power though.
To me I have my doubts about his long term success because he looks like he will probably translate into a .270-285 hitter who has a sub .300 OBP and a low slugging percentage. Not the best for a starter, but could be serviceable.
Why not try to trade for a second baseman and use the money leftover to sign the likes of Upton or Cespedes.
Nats don’t really have a budget. It’s however much their owners, who are among the wealthiest in sports, want to spend.
They just tried to sign Heyward for $200mil, how do they not have the money?
Phillips tweeted, “513 to 202.” That indicates he will waive his no-trade clause. I expect the return depends on how much of his contract the Reds agree to pay.
Taylor or Goodwin and so on?
Big difference. Goodwin would be likely as he’s been a disappointment. It would take more than Phillips to get Taylor. Up until a few weeks ago, Taylor could have led the package for Chapman.
I could see Taylor as a fit. Reds reportedly liked Erick Fedde, but that’s probably too much to ask.
Taylor is way too much unless the Reds are covering some of the money. If they’re not, the return will be someone you’ve never heard of.
Taylor is way too much if Phillips is sent to the Nats for free. With taking Papelbon on,, I think you’ll get an prospect around #10 in the system (Kieboom, Stevenson, Goodwin, etc)
I could see one of the young catchers going to Cincinnati, but then again, the Reds drafted Tyler Stephenson in the first round last year and many considered him the premier catcher available. Andrew Stevenson could make sense, although Cincinnati has a premier defender in CF in Billy Hamilton. If Hamilton doesn’t hit, of course, Stevenson could be a quick-moving prospect to replace him in a couple of years.
“Nationals should only have to give up the equipment manager from their AA team and maybe a bucket of batting practice balls, but that’s only if they pay all of Phillips’ salary and pay Harper a $300 mil extension to stay in DC” -Nationals’ fans
No, we generally don’t really want Phillips at all. At 35 years old, he clogs up 2B for 2 years while we have prospects ready or close to ready. All for the low low price of $27MM.
You don’t, but clearly the front office does. Or else this discussion wouldn’t come up.
I hope the Reds get someone decent in return. I know Phillips isn’t as young as he used to be,but he is coming of a good season,and he’s been a stalwart–and a very,very good one,at that,in his time with the Reds. Both offensively and defensively . Plus, he has fun and a flair,defensively, that can’t be matched. He’s intense.( Just ask the Cardinals.) He’s done great things in the community,once, I guess,showing up at a Little League game.
Jim Bowden tweeted the deal agreed upon is Phillips for “multiple minor league players.” Bowden also wrote that Phillips has not yet approved the trade.
As a former Braves prospect, who I gradually liked more and more, I hope nothing but the best for Peraza in Cincy!!
Unfortunately though, I get the feeling that the Braves were not the only team that mainly saw him as a relative super utility guy. Yes, the Reds really wanted him, but I get the strong sense that the Dodgers also viewed Peraza as more of a super UT guy, rather than a long-term starting option at 2B or especially at SS….
With all of that being said, I truly hope Peraza proves both teams wrong, and rewards Cincy for aggressively going out and getting him!! Peraza does need to work on making stronger contact, but if his bat improves, along with Hamilton’s, a one-two punch of Hamilton and Peraza would be deadly in front of Joey Votto!!
Both Peraza and Hamilton can burn dust into flames on the basepaths, their only collective weakness is in fact reaching 1B…Peraza must improve his BB% and make stronger contact, but if he does then the questions surrounding him as an everyday starter will quickly dissipate!!!
If I read that correctly, you think that Peraza and Hamilton would be a “deadly combination in front of Joey Votto” if they could hit. Peraza is not a finished product, yet, but Hamilton is what he is.
Hamilton just turned 25. I completely disagree that he is a finished product. He might not get any better, but he is far from a grizzled veteran.
Peraza sucks.
Reds continue to rebuild.
good for “dat dude!” he deserves to display his game on a more “national” stage-pun intended-and join one of the most talented teams in baseball into the series.
BP’s game and personality are infectious and i predict he and harper are both better for having each other in the locker room and on the field.
also, dat dude is dusty’s buddy. trust is deep both ways.
Will he be able to bond Paps and Harper as well?
He is obviously not Baker’s buddy. After meeting with Lerner, Rizzo and Baker he chose not to approve the trade even though they offered a guaranteed 3rd year. He knows Baker well and apparently doesn’t want to play for him again.
Walt Jocketty has destroyed the Reds franchise for the next decade and still has a job?! No hitting talent at all in the minors and one player to speak of in Votto that can hit with any consistency. He’ll be walked 300 times or hit 40 bombs with 65 rbi’s this year… The Reds are far and away the worst team heading into 2016.
Jesse Winker and Alex Blandino are well regarded hitting prospects, plus newly acquired Peraza and Schebler. But yes, the organization’s real strength is in pitching.
‘Destroyed the Reds franchise for the next decade”? That, or developed a top 10 – probably now top 5 – farm system, with-in the first year of starting a rebuild.
its called a rebuild – yes they will be the worst and have a top 3 pick in the draft.
thats how the Nats got Harper & Strausburg – and how the Cubs got Bryant & Schwarber.
Why does everyone think that Danny Espinosa is a good reason for not acquiring Phillips? And it also doesn’t mean that Turner is not going to be the starting SS on Opening Day. It’s not like Espinosa is All-Star caliber or anything. He could easily be a utility player behind a Turner/Phillips middle infield.
Because he’s a better defender than Phillips. Identical OPS last year, too.
You have a right to your opinion, no matter how incorrect it is.
I didn’t know that .723 and .719 were identical. Silly me.
This would give the Nats the edge over the mets in the NL east. The Mets haven’t done anything to improve that offense. They lost Cespedes and Murphy and replaced them with Walker. If not for Cespedes having an insane start to his national league career the Nats would have won that division last year.
The Nats also lost J. Zimmerman and possibly Desmon and Span. The Mets will have Syndergaard for the entire year, Matz for entire year, and Harvey with one more year of recovery from Tommy John surgery. They also will have Wheeler after the all star break, and hopefully will have d’Arnaud and Wright for most of the year instead of Recker and Cambell.
I don’t think that it will be that easy for the Nats to overtake the Mets. I also don’t think that either team is done making moves yet.
The Mets problem is their hitting. Walker and Cabrera are mediocre hitters and you’ve got huge question marks at 1st and 3rd base. Granderson was amazing last year – will that continue? Same goes for Conforto…
The Mets should at worst case be propped up by their pitching, but that’s exactly what the Nats thought last year…
That’s funny because Walker was considerably better than both Espinosa and Phillips on offense where he ranked 8th in the offensive component of WAR. His problem is on defense.
Redsfan and Buckner… The two hitting prospects spoken of have proven nothing, our only pitching prospects have also proven nothing in the minors and the Reds have absolutely nothing in the majors… Top 5-10 farm system by no ones account and to compare the Reds to the Nationals drafting Bryce Harper and Strausburg is ridiculous they have 2 times the payroll in other players and had to be the worst team in the league 2 of 3 years to acquire those two… Reds are the laughing stock of baseball and will be for a long time. There’s a reason 2 teams unloaded Peraza and it’s not because he’s a top elite up and coming player. Get real Reds fans!
Have proven nothing? That’s why they are “prospects.” If they had proven something, they’d no longer be prospects but established major leaguers.
How is the comparison to be the Nationals ridiculous? The Reds were the 2nd worst team in the league last year, thus they have the number 2 pick next summer. And they’ll likely be bad again in 2016, so will have another high pick. That’s exactly how the Nationals got Harper and Strasburg; the comparison is almost exact.
As for ranking Reds farm system, bleacher report had the Reds farm system ranked 10 following the 2015 season, which doesn’t even include the Frazier trade, so your statement is objectively wrong. There is indeed at least someone who ranks the Reds farm top 5-10
m.bleacherreport.com/articles/2564903-re-ranking-a…
I think you should be the one getting real. No Reds fan is expecting a World Series in 2016, but we’re at least rational enough to see the process in motion
Who has Jocketty drafted as a Reds gm in the first round that’s now on the team? Just a horrible gm…
What does a first round pick have to do with anything?? The players that were named that the Nats got are all-world players, guys that each and every GM would have taken with the NUMBER 1 pick.
He brought a lot to this team and made them very competitive for a while. The Reds had their window and its gone now. Keeping Phillips and Frazier would not have changed that. Time to restart and build for the future.
Jay Bruce.
And Homer Bailey
Um let’s look at his track record in the first round.
2008
Yonder Alonso – not a great player, but a solid ML career
2009
Mike Leake – very good pitcher for the Reds, traded for #94 prospect
Brad Boxberger – 2015 All Star with the Rays
2010
Yasmani Grandal – 2015 All Star with the Dodgers
2011
Robert Stephenson – Reds #3 prospect (#36 overall)
2012
Nick Travieso – Reds #7 prospect
Jesse Winker – Reds #2 prospect (#27 overall)
Jeff Gelalich – not on the top 30 list, but still with the Reds
2013
Phil Ervin – Reds #12 prospect
Michael Lorenzen – On Reds 25 man roster most of 2015
2014
Nick Howard – Reds #14 prospect
Alex Blandino – Reds #8 prospect
2015
Tyler Stephenson – Reds #5 prospect (#93 overall)
You can talk a lot about Jocketty’s bad decisions as the Reds GM regarding trades and ill-timed contract extensions, but you can’t really fault his drafting. He has really only had one major blunder (and that guy is still with the team and was the team’s third first rounder that year). Oh and if you weren’t counting along, 9 of his 13 first round picks are still with the organization, including in the bigs.
You’re really skewing things with Grandal and Alonso there. Yes Grandal was an all-star, but towards the end of the season and into the postseason he virtually lost his job to Ellis. Grandal had a very solid first half of the season which boosted him into the ASG. After the all-star game he was mired in a slump so badly, that it was nearly a guarantee he would not get a hit. As for Alonso, he has been able to stay a starting first baseman on a team that has no other alternatives. Has he been a bad player? No, but has he had a “solid” career? No. I would think he is one of those “fringe” guys from starter to backup type. Plus, he always seems to be injured as look at how many games he plays in a season since playing in the majors.
Compared to the average 1st round pick, yes he has had a solid career. You might need to check what happens to the average first round pick because it definitely is not 1 time All Star not 6 year big league career. The median first rounder from 2008 has a career WAR of 0.45. Alonso has the 11th highest career WAR of 6.0 which puts him near the 75th percentile. I would call that solidly above average. He’s not Buster Posey, but he’s a lot better than the likes of Kyle Skipworth or Brett Wallace.
I’m not getting at a comparison of first rounders, but more of a comparison of the career of a major leaguers. If you keep putting more specific stats up, yes you can almost argue anything to make whatever point you want to make. But to say that compared to the league he has had a “solid” career is just not accurate. It can certainly be argued that he has not lived up to the expectations placed upon him. I do see your comment was a follow-up to the original comment on Jocketty’s first round draft success. Which is a silly argument to make whether or not a GM is a successful one in the first place. I just don’t see Alonso as having a “solid” career. It’s definitely consistent though. He’s consistently injured, and a consistent line-drive hitter with nothing really spectacular about him.
I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on what defines a solid big league career. Most players don’t accumulate 6 WAR in their careers. It is just a fact, not me putting up specific stats. I think a guy that has been in the majors for the majority of 4 straight years with only a handful of minor league games and played in over half of his team’s ML games each year is solidly in the majors. Solid does not equal star to me. It means a guy that you can pretty much count on to make the roster out of Spring Training. I think most of us would be surprised if Alonso doesn’t make Oakland’s 25 man roster this season. He is not a star, nor will he probably ever be, but I’d say 99% of all minor leaguers (and a good chunk of major leaguers) would love to have Alonso’s career thus far.
grandal’s shoulder was hurt during that slump, which is a pretty simple explanation for it. i have no clue why the dodgers kept playing him as much as they did, but it was generally known that he was injured.
Lorenzen made 21 starts in 2015.
It typically takes 4 years for a draft pick to make it to the majors, so in terms of judging Jockety’s drafting prowess let’s rule out all picks after 2011. So from 2008 to 2011 he drafted Yonder Alonso a starting 1B in the majors, Brad Boxberger who is the closer for the Rays, Mike Leake who is an MLB starting pitcher, Yasmani Grandal who is the starting catcher for the Dodgers, and Robert Stephenson who at 22 is in AAA. Pretty amazing run of picks right there.
As we saw last year teams that look great on paper don’t always turn out to be good. The Nats pitching was considered one of the best of all time last year and that never really developed. On the Mets side going into this year, I would be concerned on how the young pitchers are going to bounce back after being over used last year, especially Harvey. I remember when the Giants won their first two series with Lincecum and Cain as their aces, neither is an ace 3 years later. Pitching is outlier!
Reds screwed this one up too. Unbelievable. This team’s ineptitude really cannot be believed.
It’s all Phillips’ fault, actually. He wanted an extension as a condition of expecting. Which isn’t surprising, since this is the guy who complained he wasn’t making enough while he was playing poorly in the past. A very low character guy.
He was offered an extension. He turned it down according to the Washington Post. Not his fault that he doesn’t want to play for Lerner and Baker. Would you?
I would say that the Nationals messed this one up. They were the ones that couldn’t convince Phillips to go play for them. They even offered him a guaranteed third year according to the Post and he turned them down. I think he doesn’t believe that Dusty can lead them to a championship and isn’t willing to leave the place he has called home for a decade for anything less.
At the end of the day nobody knows who’s going to turn into a star or be a bust, not even GMs do, for all we know peraza and Schebler could go on to be legends, couple time all stars or totally awful players, that goes for anyone in the minors, somebody could’ve drafted 500th overall and go on to be Albert pujols, or they could never reach the majors, we could all write on this website how awful we think these trades are now but next year we could either be saying the same thing or be eating our words because we were dead wrong. I don’t think the Frazier deal was a bad one, I also don’t think it was great, no doubt his second half to the season was the reason the haul wasn’t so impressive but the Reds get solid depth and youth which they’ve needed, as good as Frazier is and as much as people wanted him to stay, he’s older then most people in baseball now who have 4-5 plus years of service time. He was 27-28 as a rookie if I’m not mistaken, and he became an all star with a big bat, so maybe it takes time for some other all stars to develop, but we won’t know until they arrive in the show
A couple years ago, a singles hitting 2B, who didn’t walk much, but could steal a few bases made his major league debut. He was not a strong defender. Today, Altuve is an all-star, and a solid defender. There is hope for Peraza.
That’s what I’m saying, there’s hope for every player in baseball everywhere, Lorenzo Cain didn’t play until his junior year of high school and look at him now, my point is nobody knows who is going to be a star and who isn’t
Sigurd. Walt Jocketty didn’t draft jay Bruce or homer bailey nice try though…. He did give those two turds huge contracts though so your right I do blame him for that. RayRay, every player drafted with any value has been traded for nothing… Grandal, Alonso, leake, all those prospects are closing in on their mid 20’s and haven’t even sniffed the majors on the second worst team in baseball so I’m going to go out on a limb and say they aren’t any good. Jocketty had done nothing and because bleacher report likes our farm system doesn’t mean anything. I go by results and after 7 years Jocketty took krivsky’s teams to playoffs and ruined what was a strong franchise!
Cbw…. You have SOME nerve calling players who’ve made it to the HIGHEST level there is Turds. I bet you wouldn’t have the cojones to say it to their face. What highest level of ANY sport that you’ve played?? I’ll wait
If you base your judgment of GM on that criteria, then who exactly qualifies as a good GM? Because I’m pretty sure that EVERY single GM in the history of the game has had a few bad deals. Unless you think your countless hours playing OOTP or MLB The Show has made you a better GM than any of the real GMs throughout history. I’m sure you would have turned Mike Leake into Bryce Harper and Yonder Alonso into Mike Trout by now, but for the rest of us down on Earth, Jocketty hasn’t been that bad. If you think otherwise, that is your right, but you will never be satisfied by anyone which will probably lead to a miserable lonely existence when your future wife is not as good looking as Kate Upton or not as good a cook as Rachael Ray. But I’m sure your standards might come down a little bit by then.
I wish there was a like button or an upvote Ray Ray, because that post deserved both.
Wish I could have been a fly on the wall for this discussion. Can’t help but wonder what made the deal fall out
Guessing the Reds wanted too much for a player past his prime. Nats said forget it
Bballrat from a production standpoint the Reds would have been better off paying me to eat skyline chilli dogs in the stands than pay jay Bruce and homer Bailey that kind of money! They are professionals but a good gm doesn’t pay his best crop superstar money when his best crop of players don’t compare to the best crop in the league. What we have here is a gm with no players of his own accord after 8 years and a rebuilding that has started out less than promising!
Maybe I am missing something from the article, but I don’t see where the Reds did anything wrong. Seems like they were….”expected to give Phillips some form of incentives to waive his no-trade rights, but there’s been no progress made on those talks to this point,”
Could it be that there was no progress because Phillips did not want to go to the Nationals? ” There is more to this story than given here by the Reds and/or Nationals.
Says he asked for an extension and WAS didn’t want to give him one.
Seriously he wanted another year? Have fun playing games that don’t matter! I never thought Phillips cared about winning anyway!
Seriously he wanted another year? Have fun playing games that don’t matter! I never thought Phillips cared about winning anyway! Time to move on!
Either Brandon Phillips did not want to play for the Nationals or he has a lot of crust.
WOW thats so greedy of him. Also disrespectful to the team that gave him everything he has. I understand the business aspect of it but he is basically picking money over winning and thats just pathetic. I always likes Phillips as a Red but he took a huge hit with this and frankly i hope they sit him if they cant move him.
NOBODY’s given anything. He’s earned every penny he’s made
Fair point,. I was just referring to the Reds going out and getting him and giving him the chance it seemed Cleveland was finished with. You never know what could have happened so its impossible to speculate if the Reds didnt get him and give him the chance. However his play did get him his money thats a fair statement.
He was blocked in Cleveland by Ronnie Belliard. Had nothing to do with giving up on him.
So tired of that line. Just because he agreed to a contract that guarantees him payment for the coming year, does not mean he’s earned it. It means he is LIKELY to earn it. If I pay $70 for a ticket to a concert, because the artist has many hit songs and is popular, and then he shows up and can’t remember the words to his songs and performs poorly, I wouldn’t say he “earned” his $70. Phillips hasn’t earned anything, until he actually does earn it.
Who cares what YOU are tired of?? Why are y’all so mad b/c he EARNED the right not to get traded?? Seems like HARD work paid off.
I wish your employer lowered your salary because he doesn’t like how you do whatever you do suddenly. The guy is a professional and doesn’t owe his employer anything than his contractual obligation. He is even a major part of the Cincy community and goes above and beyond with his fans. Stop vilifying either side.
No one said anything about lowering his salary. He is still going to get the same amount of money he would whether he was in Cincy or anywhere!
I agree he has done great things for the community and for that i like him.
I just find it very greedy after getting 75.5 million dollars to not let your team move on without and incentive. .
I call it his prerogative be in a position to be in a position to dictate where he wants to play. I hope he Asks for the MOON!
what would it take for the angels to get Phillips?
Apparently an extension.
Guess the man will be Red for the foreseeable future.
I entered my post before my screen updated the info
Hope Peraza beats him out and sends him to the bench at some point this season.
I hate when players nix trades.
I hate when people complain about how other people with leverage negotiate. He gets paid no matter WHO beats him out. Haters gonna Hate
Phillips had a right to ask for the extension–it’s a collectively bargained right for a player of his age/experience to refuse a trade. I’m not sure i blame him; he’s been with Cincy for ten years, this is likely his last multiyear contract, and why upset your life, where you live, who you are comfortable with, at this age–unless it makes financial sense?
Bingo.
If the reason this deal didn’t get completed is that Phillips wouldn’t agree without an extension to his contract, then it is clear that Brandon Phillips is interested in making more millions than having an opportunity to win a world championship.
Again…. He’s earned the right to make that choice. So what if he wants to make as much money as he can?
baseballrat…I agree with you, he has earned the right to make that choice. I just think it needs to be clear to all the “DatDudeBP” fans that what is most important to him, what truly drives him…And it’s not what you hear from so many professional athletes who say it’s all about the ring, the championship, the team and being the best in their sport. Be who you are DDBP, say it’s all about the Benjamins!!
As long as he straps it on
Even thought the Nationals offered him a guaranteed 3rd year to go to DC, Phillips obviously doesn’t believe that Dusty Baker, a manager he knows really well, can lead the Nationals to the championship and because of that belief he would prefer to stay in the place he has called home for the last 10 years. There is certainly no fault to place in this situation.
According to the Post, the Nationals offered him a guaranteed 3rd year. He turned it down. Obviously, it’s not about money. He played for Dusty for a long time and I don’t think he believes that Dusty can lead them to a WS. Why move from a city you have lived in for a decade to go somewhere that you don’t believe has any more chance of winning a championship than where you are?
What I find really funny is Nationals fans saying that Phillips is greedy. He actually went to Washington and met with Lerner, Rizzo and Baker according to the Post. The Post also reported that 1st he was offered a bonus that amounted to paying him the money he deferred when he signed the extension in 2012 now and then he was offered a guaranteed 3rd year for about half of his 2017 salary.
That he turned them down is an indication to me that he really, really doesn’t want to play for Baker and was not convinced that Lerner and Rizzo can change the culture in the organization enough to bring a championship to Washington.
Phillips played for Baker for a long, long time. He knows what kind of manager he is and obviously Baker didn’t impress him as the type that can lead that team to a championship, so Phillips turned down millions and decided to stay in the city that he has made his home in for more than a decade.
Bravo Phillips.