Brandon Phillips

[Knick9]

This guy is growing on me. He is hitting like crazy. I think he has a good chance of sticking around in Cincy. What do you think?

[redlegsfan21]

I think he is driving Ryan Freel out of the line-up. As soon as Griffey gets off the DL, Freel is going to be out of the line-up.

[riverfrontier]

maybe either freel or phillips could be used to get some more pitching. not to sound too negative or anything, but when arroyo comes back down to earth and the rest of the staff show that triple A or retirement is where they should be, it's gonna be a hard fall.

[1doug]

maybe either freel or phillips could be used to get some more pitching. not to sound too negative or anything, but when arroyo comes back down to earth and the rest of the staff show that triple A or retirement is where they should be, it's gonna be a hard fall.

Thanks. But lets enjoy it while we can!

[Captain Cold Nose]

maybe either freel or phillips could be used to get some more pitching. not to sound too negative or anything, but when arroyo comes back down to earth and the rest of the staff show that triple A or retirement is where they should be, it's gonna be a hard fall.
I'm not certain that's going to happen. The National League overall isn't overly strong. The Reds have as good of a chance as everybody. It'll be whomever is healthiest.

[Ravenlord]

Phillips is great defensively. his bat will cool off, but as long as he's hitting in the 250s or so he'll be fine.

i really wish one of the Yankees, Angels, or White Sox would pursue Griffey, this team is so much stronger overall with Phillips at second and Freel in center....

[KCGHOST]

Cleveland got tired of waiting for him to blossom. In 462 career PA's he has a .556 OPS. It's just isn't likely that what he is doing is real, but he is only 25.

[Ravenlord]

Cleveland got tired of waiting for him to blossom. In 462 career PA's he has a .556 OPS. It's just isn't likely that what he is doing is real, but he is only 25.
the Indians woefully mismanaged Phillips.

a great article about it from the Akron Beacon Journal:
Approach on Phillips was flawed

By Terry Pluto


It is still too early to know if the Indians made a major mistake, or just a minor one, with Brandon Phillips.

Either way, their approach was flawed.

At the end of spring training, the Tribe traded Phillips to the Cincinnati Reds for the famed ``Player To Be Named.'' It could end up just being cash. Phillips responded by claiming the starting second-base job for the Reds and is hitting .372 with three homers and 17 RBI.

Phillips eventually will cool off, but there are several people in the Tribe front office who privately believed up to the day that he was traded that he still was going to have a solid major-league career.

Yet, the Indians received virtually nothing for him.

So what happened with the Indians and Phillips?

He was reputed to be the top prospect acquired in the Bartolo Colon deal with the Montreal Expos in 2002 and was the Tribe's Opening Day second baseman in 2003. He was 21 when that season began and batted only .208 in 112 games.

The rebuilding Indians probably rushed him. They were desperate to find players and knew that Phillips was such a gifted athlete that he had been offered a basketball scholarship by the University of Georgia. They hoped that he could make a quick adjustment to the majors. He wasn't ready.

Phillips started at Triple-A Buffalo in 2004 and never again was able to break into the Tribe lineup. Some of the fault belonged to Phillips, some to the fact that the Indians had better players in front of him.

There was veteran Omar Vizquel at shortstop, then Jhonny Peralta became an emerging star. Veteran Ronnie Belliard was signed to play second base.

In 2003, Phillips hit .175 in 154 at-bats at Buffalo. In 2004, he was a .303 hitter at Buffalo. Last year, it was .256. He probably thought that he had been in Buffalo long enough to be mayor.

He might have believed that the Indians had lost some faith in him. He could be right.

He really did need a fresh start with another team.

This spring, Phillips was out of minor-league options. He either had to make the team or be placed on waivers for $20,000. The Indians knew someone would claim him.

Manager Eric Wedge didn't think that Phillips was suited to being a guy who plays only once a week, sometimes less. He believed that Ramon Vazquez would ``be a better fit.''

Vazquez is 29. He has been a career .258 hitter in parts of four major-league seasons with three teams. He's happy to wait his turn on the bench. It's a safe guess that no matter what Phillips did this spring, Wedge wanted to keep Vazquez because of doubts how Phillips would handle not playing.

Phillips batted .316 in the spring, Vazquez .235. The Indians seemed to be hanging on to Phillips in case Belliard or Peralta would have got hurt. The logic was this: If we need a starter, it's Phillips. If we need a bench guy, it's Vazquez.

That says the front office clearly thought that Phillips was the superior talent.

When Peralta and Belliard both stayed healthy, the Indians virtually were forced to give away Phillips. They kept Vazquez, a player who probably would get through waivers without being claimed. A guess is this was the front office bowing to the wishes of the manager, although no one has said as much.

The Tribe would have been wiser to deal Phillips last season -- when it became obvious that he had fallen out of favor. Remember when they called him up for three weeks in July? He was 0-for-9 and supposedly was working with batting coach Derek Shelton. In September when rosters were expanded, Phillips was not promoted.

With future star Grady Sizemore in center and 18-game winner Cliff Lee in the rotation, the Indians still received tremendous value for Colon. They now have nothing to show for Phillips. For that, they have only themselves to blame.

[RedsWin!]

Please write him in at second base for the All-Star game. :)

[BigDonkey]

Once Griffey gets off the DL, it should be interesting to see what Narron does with Freel. I believe without Freel in the lineup, this offense struggles, because Freel is constantly causing havoc at the top of the order...so we'll have to see how this plays out...

[reds2221]

I really think that it's best for Griffey to retire because there is no place in the lineup for him.

[redlegsfan21]

With Aurillia on the DL, Narron needs to move Dunn to 1st and have Griffey in Center and Freel in Left when Griffey gets off.

[riverfrontier]

i agree. then when aurilia comes off the dl, it'll be just about time for griffey to go back on it. around it goes.

[BigDonkey]

I'd love to see Dunn at first, but he has stated many times that dislikes playing there. We traded Casey so Dunn could move to first, but he had trouble there during spring training, and that's when we signed Hatteberg.

[JohnGelnarFan]

Has Adam Dunn had any experience at first,at any level in previous years? Where did you get your user name? I know that Frank Thomas of the early Mets was called Big Donkey! :crazy



I'd love to see Dunn at first, but he has stated many times that dislikes playing there. We traded Casey so Dunn could move to first, but he had trouble there during spring training, and that's when we signed Hatteberg.

[riverfrontier]

You mean the Frank Thomas who hit Dick Allen with a bat?

[Ravenlord]

Has Adam Dunn had any experience at first,at any level in previous years?in Little League, High School, and in the minors through AA. it wasn't until he arrived in Chattanooga that he became a full time right fielder. in Dayton (low A) he alternated between first and center field.

Where did you get your user name? I know that Frank Thomas of the early Mets was called Big Donkey! :crazy
Dunn is called Big Donkey as well.

[CharlieHustle14]

I am sick of this guy always being so overhyped. My proposal and thinking of what Wayne Krivsky needs to do is to package LaRue, Wilson and Milton for some pitching. I was thinking (but it may be a stretch) to go after Derek Lowe and their young catcher Dioner Navarro. I just want those 3 underachievers to get out of Cincy!

[KingJ]

I am sick of this guy always being so overhyped. My proposal and thinking of what Wayne Krivsky needs to do is to package LaRue, Wilson and Milton for some pitching. I was thinking (but it may be a stretch) to go after Derek Lowe and their young catcher Dioner Navarro. I just want those 3 underachievers to get out of Cincy!

Valentin and Ross look likes steals so you don't really need new catchers in return.

[Ravenlord]

LaRue, Wilson and Milton LaRue has a lot of value, being a top 10 catcher. no team will ever trade for Wilson and Milton. Wilson will never see more than 1 or 2 ineffective major league starts before retiring, and Milton has changed his mechanics to destroy his shoulder, let alone the degenerative knees.

but more i'm wondering how Jason LaRue and a couple crappy pitchers have come up in a thread about Brandon Phillips.