The Value of Brandon Phillips

We all know of BP and his defense, as in many view him as maybe the best defensive second sacker in baseball. But it’s the intangibles that Phillips can now bring to the table. Let the panel take it away…

Kerry of BRM:

The Phillips extension would depend on the asking price. If he can be re-signed in the ballpark of a 4-year, $40 million deal, I’d do it. It’s worth trying to get creative to make it happen. BP isn’t the offensive player he was 3 years ago, but he’s solid and versatile. His defense is beyond amazing. He also brings added value due to his “fan friendly,” marketable demeanor.

Ronnie of Big Red Redemption:

BP is an absolute must sign. He puts butts in the seats; he’s great with national media and the fans. Plus he brings swagger to this team. I foresee a 3 yr $36mil contract in his future.

The trio from Red Reporter. First, BK:

I do it, for a few reasons. I think you could get him something fair and not overpay. He’s a franchise player in every sense of the word, has a great rapport with fans (especially since Twitter came along), and provides value on both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball. Sure, no telling what you’re getting from the locker room, but he stays out of trouble off the field and is a born motivator. I’m sold on the guy.

Then RijoSaboCaseyWKRP:

I’d be open to extending him, but probably not for as long as he’ll be asking. I’d balk anything more than two years beyond the option. I’d try to get him for no more than 3/$34 ($12M option, $11M, $11M). If you think he has about a 4 WAR ceiling and will regress as he ages (and might take also take a slight discount) I think that’s reasonable.

Chase Utley’s getting $15/yr for his age 31-33 seasons. He’s probably good for at, minimum, 1 win above Phillips over that span. Also, Henry Rodriguez may be ready by ’13 or ’14 at the latest.

And, fianally, JinAZ:

I love Brandon Phillips. Good bad, good fielding, important position. So yes, I’d be interested in extending him. But the question is the price tag, right?

Without doing anything rigorous, I’d project Phillips to be something like a 3 WAR player next year in his age-31 season. If we do a five year contract extension, and apply a “standard” 0.5 WAR/yr aging curve, and include inflation, Phillips would be worth somewhere in the vicinity of five years/$60 M. That’s a big chunk of change, but he’s probably worth that price. Assuming there’s room in the Reds’ budget for it…

That’s pretty similar to Dan Uggla‘s 5 yr/$62 M deal, of course. I’m sure that deal will be front and center in Phillips’ negotiations, and so far, that’s not going very well for the Braves (which might be good for the Reds). But Phillips is a very different kind of player than Uggla: Phillips has some power, but is also very athletic and gets a lot of value from his fielding. Hopefully he won’t drop off a cliff like Uggla apparently has.

So we see that BP is extremely valuable to the team offensively, defensively, and in marketability. He’s turned it around a bit from last season. One thing I do not want to see is Dusty move him to leadoff. Got that, Mr. Baker?!?!

Reds MVP To me, it’s easy. It’s Brandon Phillips.