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Cincinnati Reds begin the task of trading Brandon Phillips

By Nick Vorholt

Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cincinnati Reds can’t get caught off guard this off-season when trying to move Brandon Phillips.

The Cincinnati Reds have three legitimate options for their everyday second baseman and none of them are named Brandon Phillips.  Last off-season the Reds tried to trade Phillips twice, but he blocked the deal.  Now the Reds need to figure out what it will take for him to accept a deal.

The first thing that the Reds need to do is to get a list of contending teams that need second basemen.  The first team that comes to mind is the Los Angeles Angels.  As long as they have Mike Trout, they need to be thinking about making a World Series run.

In the National League the only team that has a noticeable hole is the Los Angeles Dodgers.  They have had to play projected second baseman Howie Kendrick in left field all year.  The Toronto Blue Jays could show interest in Phillips, since they have had such bad luck with health at the keystone.

That is not a huge market.  The Reds need to be ready with offers and ideas as soon as the World Series ends.  In particular the Reds need to be ready with a great offer for the Angels.

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The Angels are the best fit for Phillips.

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    • The Angels are going to be completely rebooting their starting rotation.  They will have the injured Matt Shoemaker, Tyler Skaggs, Garrett Richards, and perhaps the duo of Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano all return by early 2017.  This year they sent away Hector Santiago for Ricky Nolasco.  The Angels have payroll relief from the Minnesota Twins, so the Reds could use that to their advantage.

    The Reds could send Phillips and starter/closer combo Raisel Iglesias to the Angels for Nolasco and a couple of young prospects.  Nolasco makes less than Phillips, but the Twins are paying the difference between the salaries of Nolasco and Santiago.  The Reds could do the same thing with Phillips.  That’s about $5-million.

    The Angels could use Iglesias however they want.

    They would probably begin with him as a starter and move him to the bullpen if all of the starters were working out.  He is the value that would make the Angels accept this.

    Next: Is there a place on the Reds for Yorman Rodriguez?

    The task at hand would be getting Phillips to accept this deal.  The Reds should essentially bench him for the rest of the season and let him know that he is a utility player next year.  He is a decent second baseman, but he also needs to move on.

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