Brandon Phillips to Boston?

Admittedly, this probably isn't even worth sharing since Peter Gammons is involved with the reporting...

The team has asked second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who won the AL MVP Award in 2008, if he could play shortstop for the team if needed next season.

The staff has thrown it out to him, realizing that it might be easier to sign or acquire an everyday, defensive second baseman than a shortstop.
There is some hesitation from the Red Sox about signing free agent Marco Scutaro, between the plantar fasciitis that bothered him late in the season and the possibility of giving up a first-round draft pick to sign him if the Blue Jays offer him arbitration Monday. There are voices in the organization that believe that another possibility is second baseman Brandon Phillips, who was a shortstop in the Montreal and Cleveland organizations and hit 20 homers for the Reds last season.

So you have 5 salaries that significantly restrict flexibility. Does anyone else think that the Reds are working from the bottom of that list, instead of the top? Is there some obligation to send middle infielders to Boston?

about 2 years ago "Red" Moskau 14 comments 0 recs |

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Mea culpa

Just saw Charlie had this in the Dusty tread about 2.5 hours ago…

One of you Bench Coaches get hot and delete this thing— please end my humiliation!

"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!"

by "Red" Moskau on Dec 1, 2009 6:30 PM EST reply actions

I think it deserves its own life

I wouldn’t mind giving up Brandon Phillips if the Sox had a SS to trade. Or maybe a big bat for LF..a true cleanup hitter..BP is very good and not easily replace defensively but if the deal was right, I’d do it in a New York minute.

I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
Winston Churchill

by Madville on Dec 1, 2009 7:41 PM EST up reply actions

I'd consider it too, except

the fact that Frazier is starting in LF in AAA this year indicates they don’t think he can hack it at 2B. Ergo, if we trade BP we have no one to replace him. Ergo, bad idea and nahgunnahappen

If I hear the word 'perky' again, I'll puke

by nycredsfan on Dec 1, 2009 9:21 PM EST up reply actions

I'm not saying that BP is untouchable

Just that he’s the least of my big money candidates— esp. since it seems the Sox have more arms than bats to offer. God knows we can’t afford to make the offense any weaker!

"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!"

by "Red" Moskau on Dec 2, 2009 12:08 AM EST up reply actions

The Sox wouldn't be making the deal if they had a SS.

by Brian B on Dec 2, 2009 8:50 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

uh, any true reds fan knows:

the worse an idea is; the higher the percentage of it happening. this scares me, Gammons reports on 2 types of deals; the ones that are quietly done but not signed, and the bogeys his ‘sources’ give to lead others astray.

by Eastwindquinn on Dec 1, 2009 9:37 PM EST reply actions

So true on both accounts

by Brian B on Dec 2, 2009 8:51 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

Yeah, I'm not sure what Boston is going to give Cincy to make that deal

Sure, it’d be fun to have Youk back in Cincy, but that’s not happening in real life. I really can’t imagine what Boston could give the Reds for the face of the franchise. Unless, as Moskau said, they just have to give infielders to Boston

"And then there was the USAID guy in Kandahar who drove a giant pink Cadillac, which the locals set on fire one day. If you wanted to destroy something symbolic during a riot, you just could not do better than that. Good stuff." - Ghosts of Alexander

by Cy Schourek on Dec 2, 2009 10:25 AM EST reply actions

Clay Buchholtz!

"You never know how you look through other people's eyes"

by sidnancy on Dec 3, 2009 11:14 AM EST up reply actions

I'd be shocked if the Reds would even seriously consider it

Everything they’ve done in the past half-year – trading for Rolen, re-signing Hernandez, pursuing arb to Gomes – indicates they see a selloff as a last resort. That, and the PR blowback make it a remote possibility. They’d shop Harang, Arroyo, Cordero and Rhodes before Phillips and even then, I think they’re looking to defer any deal until the trade deadline, with Harang first on the block.

Phillips always seems to run so hot and cold, but Justin has him down for almost 4 WAR last year. Any trade would be unlikely to replace that at 2B or SS this year or next, but it still might be the best move the Reds could make for 2011. Cozart, Janish, Valaika, Frazier, Sutton, a Hypothetical former-Red Sox player and free agents would all be in the mix in the middle infield and gauranteed payroll could sink to below $20MM.

Yeah, those guys and the Cincinnati Reds. They're a terrible football team. / Because they're a baseball team? / Exactly. You know who's the worst football team? The Philadelphia Flyers. - Best Show

by RijoSaboCaseyWKRP on Dec 2, 2009 11:09 AM EST reply actions

by ZJiff30 on Dec 4, 2009 1:33 PM EST up reply actions

Reds still suffer from status quoitis

Jockerty needs to raise his blood pressure, provide some can’t miss talent, and insist on excellence. Anything else will be mediocrity at best.
Jame Eriksen
Cincinnati

by JamesE on Dec 8, 2009 7:14 PM EST reply actions