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I can get used to Los Rojos

May 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment

losrojos

The Reds are finally giving me reason to get excited.

Here’s the play from Friday night’s 4-3 win over the Brewers that you probably heard everyone talking about. You won’t see a better double play turn in the next decade. You just won’t.

Phillips added a homer in the bottom of the inning that would stand up to be the difference in the win.

Then there was Saturday, lovely Saturday. The Reds tortured poor Hiram Burgos to the tune of 10 earned runs in three innings pitched. Jay Bruce led the charge with this home run (and two doubles):

He’s got the total up to three now, which is a couple more than Matt Kemp. The Reds won a wild one 13-7 yesterday.

The Reds enter Sunday gunning for the sweep on Mother’s Day.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers Tagged With: , ,

Cincinnati Reds 2013 Team Preview

March 19, 2013 by 1 Comment

Jay+Bruce

If you want me to be 100% honest, I thought it was the Reds year last year. I truly thought after they won the first two games of the NLDS in San Francisco that this team was headed to the World Series. The Reds were going to do one better than my prediction I made before the season of just reaching the NLCS; they were actually going to win the NL pennant and give themselves a shot at the first Cincinnati World Title since 1990 when I was eight years old.

The Reds completely broke my heart when they collapsed. Truth be told, I’m still not recovered from it. While I’m excited for  baseball season, I don’t necessarily think that this team in this window will ever be any better positioned to win it all. You can tell me that I’m wrong, and you can tell me that they’re better for the experience they gained and all that. My opinion is the Reds missed a golden opportunity to win it all last year and will never have a better opportunity.

The American League as a whole was suspect last season and I knew at the time that the hot team from the National League would probably win it. At first glance that team looked to be the Reds. Then Johnny Cueto got hurt. Then the Reds couldn’t make a few plays when Homer Bailey threw the gem that should have ended the series. Then the Reds had to throw Leake and throw away game four. Then in game five, Buster Posey drove a stake in my heart that will never be removed.

With that, I decided that I’ll never again believe it’s going to happen until the moment actually arrives. I am forever skeptical; forever jaded. There is no such thing as ‘we’re going to win the whole damn thing’ before we do it as I declared last year on Opening Day. Not this year. You have to prove it to me now.

Major Off-Season Moves:

  • Signed Jack Hannahan
  • Traded for Shin-Soo Choo
  • Re-signed Ryan Ludwick
  • Re-signed Jonathan Broxton
  • Re-signed Manager Dusty Baker

I know this team so well it’s scary sometimes. When I wake up in the morning during the season and the Reds have a game on their schedule, I know if they’re going to win or lose 95% of the time before the game is even played. I still watch and see the results play out. But at the end of things when the final out is recorded, I usually had a pulse of how things were going to go. My wife sometimes asks me why I don’t just smell the roses when following this team. Why don’t I just enjoy things a little bit more? I wish it were that easy. When this much passion gets involved; when you want something so badly, you can’t help but expect the zenith.

I want that damn trophy at the end of the year. There’s no reason that this group in this era shouldn’t win a title. They’re as good as anyone in the league right now. Everyone has their breaks, their weak spots, their bad luck; it’s time to go out and get it done. Anything less is considered an absolute failure. And if and when that happens I can’t help but be completely exasperated, usually after an emotional explosion.

Here’s a look at yours and my 2013 Cincinnati Reds after the jump. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 Diamond Hoggers Season Previews, Cincinnati Reds Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cincinnati Reds win their first postseason game in 17 years

October 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com] [ESPN SweetSpot] [HardballTalk] [Lance Mcalister] [The Splash] [Giants Extra]

Someone pinch me, I’m dreaming.

Did my team really just beat Matt Cain on the road out west after losing Johnny Cueto (the ace of the staff) after he recorded just one out? I have to be dreaming. This has happened to me a million times. I wake up, and it all goes away. After all, it has been 6,210 days since the Reds franchise won a postseason game (1995 against the Dodgers for those wondering).

Brandon Phillips was balling out of his mind last night. He got scoring started with a two-run home run to left field. He made a few barehand plays. He made an unreal back up play over at first base on a bunt single that kept the runner on first. He singled home an insurance run. Thank you for playing this way DatDude.

Jay Bruce continued his postseason hitting success.

Matt Cain was cruising through the first four hitters in the Reds lineup when Bruce doubled down the right field line for the Reds first hit. There would be no perfect game in this one against the Reds.

And then there was Bruce’s home run into a spot of AT&T Park where home runs aren’t typically hit:

Not sure I’ve ever gone more nuts when a couple of home runs left the yard than when I did for Phillips and Bruce going deep.

There were just so many efforts that contributed to this game. There was no one story. It was a gritty team effort comprised of Bruce, Phillips, Mat Latos, Sam LeCure (getting five outs as a pinch-hit reliever), and the Reds bullpen working out of tight spots late in the game that had me holding my breath.

The first domino has fallen, and the Reds need just ten more wins to claim a World Series title and six more to reach the fall classic. Last night was another memorable, improbable, and high-character moment from a team that has already provided a full season’s worth of them.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, League Division Series, MLB Playoffs, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , , , , ,

The 2012 Cincinnati Reds: Champions of the Central Again

September 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The 2012 Cincinnati Reds have partially fulfilled a destiny.

In yesterday’s 6-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mat Latos threw eight dominant shutout innings. Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips homered. Bruce’s 34th home run of the season was a matter of tradition; he’s homered each time the Reds have clinched a division title.

I sat in the farthest reaches of the upper deck at Great American that October night back in 2010 when the Reds were eliminated from the playoffs, and I told my wife that this group of Reds would be back. I had a strong feeling that the Reds were going to miss the playoffs entirely in 2011 and serve as a monumental disappointment around baseball. Check. I also told her that 2012 was the year. I told her that night that I had a vision of them storming back to make a run for the World Series in 2012.

Here we are.

In all of my life, no matter how long I live; I’ll never forget the 2012 Cincinnati Reds. This is both the most talented, and the most memorable group of Reds that have taken the field since I was nine years old.

I’ve never felt more proud to call a team ‘mine’.

A baseball season is such a weird thing. Compiled of so many highs and lows that serve as mere radar blip snapshots, it’s kind of hard to really know where a team sends until the cement has hardened and the final game has been played. But from the opening gun this year I knew that this team was good. Really good. I never panicked. Not one time did I ever doubt that this would be the outcome. I knew back in May that this team was going to outgun a loaded Cardinals lineup and find a way to win the division by double digits. I knew that a much higher prize should be the idea and that the division title should be table stakes for a roster that’s so talented. Sure, some of it was that vision that came to be back in 2010 (and even before the 2010 season I felt 2012 was the year this team was truly built for). But this team responded to so many things with so many different heroes each night, they never allowed you to doubt them for long.

Hold this moment in your heart if you’re a die hard baseball fan that loves the Reds. I feel that this is what sports are all about. Winning titles are the pantheon of why the games are played. But I’ve said before that Midas’ gold for the sports fan is in the climb. The struggle. The battle. The uncertainty. It’s in the grind that it takes to reach a title. That’s what defines greatness in players, teams and sports.

Reds fans have endured, and now it’s time to indulge. Take a few days, enjoy the fall air and know that a new season is about to begin. The final chapter for this group has not been written and I believe that a great destiny awaits them. Dusty phoned in his post-clinch lineup card.

Sit back, catch your breath, and get ready for a memorable and drama-filled ride that you’re never going to forget. Let’s go after that number one seed.

And thank you, 2012 Reds. I’ll never forget you.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Clinching Pennants, Los Angeles Dodgers Tagged With: , , ,

Our Pal Franco interviews DatDudeBP

September 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Our pal Franco from Next Level Ballplayer does exceptional work.

He’s also got connections spread all throughout the Major Leagues. His latest project is an interview with one of our personal favorites, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips. Be sure to check it out.

Reds’ Brandon Phillips Talks ‘Golden Soldiers’, Finding ‘The Crunk Zone’, Personal Baseball Goals and More [Next Level Ballplayer]

 

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds Tagged With:

On the Reds 10-Game Winning Streak

July 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

When the Cincinnati Reds dropped the home stand opener 11-5 to the San Diego Padres last night in Cincinnati, it ended their 10-game winning streak that began with a 7-6 win over Arizona in Cincinnati on July 19th.

I think it was the longest winning streak for the Cincinnati Reds since this blog has been in creation. It took then from tied for first place in the standings to 3 games in the green on the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Reds did it all without the help of their main offensive force, Joey Votto. Even with last night’s loss the Reds are 20 games over .500, which also seems like another benchmark worth mention.

If this band of Reds go on to win the National League Central Division Championship for the second time in three seasons; or reach uncharted territory like the NLCS, this will be the stretch that everyone should remember. They did it with pitching, great defense, and timely hitting. It wasn’t about the three-run homer in the small park, as so many thought Reds baseball would be predicated upon. In fact, the Reds hit five solo shots in their final win on the streak in Colorado.

Other than Drew Stubbs, Ryan Ludwick was probably the hero of the entire streak. He’s seen his OPS hulk up to .849 at the end of last night’s play. That’s ahead of Jay Bruce (.828) and Brandon Phillips (.788) by a healthy margin.

I’m in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. My buddies are headed to the park tonight to watch Homer Bailey and the boys attempt to start a new streak. I have to admit, even with the beach out my window I am a little bit envious. The MLB.tv feeds here are very spotty at best. I’ve been forced to follow the Reds via 700 WLW. Last night the crowd sounded rowdy. With two full months of baseball left, the Reds have made a baseball town fall in love again. What a life we are living in such a place.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, winning streaks Tagged With: , , , ,

Chapmania has reached a Fever Pitch in Cincinnati

May 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I turned on 700 WLW last night and heard the roar of what sounded like a postseason crowd. It was the 9th inning, and Aroldis Chapman had just finished mowing down Jason Heyward on a 100 MPH fastball. The Braves didn’t have a chance in the final frame. Everyone should have headed back to the hotels about a half hour earlier than when things officially got broken up. Baseball could start saving teams the trouble and the time of having to face the best power lefty I’ve seen in my lifetime.

The Reds won the game 4-3. Matt Latos was pretty solid. Brandon Phillips homered a couple of times. Baseball Tonight said that now that the Reds had things ‘straightened out’ they were going to win the NL Central by double-digits this season.

I don’t know about that, but I hope everyone out there is truly enjoying what Aroldis Chapman has done to date. All day I’ve wondered whether or not I should post the actual numbers, but I’m a superstitious guy. I want Chapman to keep rolling. So do you. Let’s not jinx anything and just leave it at this: the guy hasn’t allowed a damn run yet.

Joey Votto has just been Votto-like solid. Jay Bruce is again struggling. We’re all waiting on Brandon Phillips to get hot. But Chapman has truly arrived. As you look around baseball, no one has was a weapon this dominant. And he’s a Cincinnati Red for the foreseeable future, to have and to hold. To do whatever we want with.

Sit back and watch him mow down big leaguers like they’re helpless next time he climbs the hill. In all my years of baseball, I’ve never seen anything quite like this. It could be a summer of records for Chapman, and I think everyone will remember spring 2012 as when this dominant figure in the game arrived for good and set down his luggage.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds Tagged With: , ,

Game 29, 2012: Brewers rock Bailey & Reds 8-3

May 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com] [Redleg Nation] [Brewers Mission 162]

Things started going badly in this one–again because of Homer Bailey’s inconsistencies.

He came out with 96 MPH stuff, some of the best velocity I’ve seen him have a in a long time and after retiring what seemed like the first two hitters of the game with ease, he came unraveled a little bit. He loaded the bases and Lucroy singled home a couple of runners and the route was on. It summed up Homer Bailey’s entire Cincinnati career. Come out with electric stuff, but for some reason you lack the ability to just get guys out and everything was labored.

After the Brewers loaded up the sacks again later in the game and Aramis Ramirez cleared then to make it 6-0, I decided it was time to head to the gym and prepare mentally for the loss. While I was on the elliptical for an hour I listened to Marty and when the Reds are losing Marty really loses focus. Bruce homered again to stretch his streak to 11 games. Brandon Phillips collected a few hits. But basically the Reds were blown out and failed to keep climbing above the .500 mark.

Making today’s afternoon delight of Johnny Cueto vs. Zach Greinke a huge contest.

Highlights:

Jay Bruce goes opposite field for his 10th home run of the year

Brandon Phillips, great grab over the shoulder

Full highlights

Potpourri:

-The Reds 8-3 loss in Milwaukee will mean little on May 8th of 2012 in baseball history. This will forever be the night that Josh Hamilton hit four home runs in Baltimore. It’s a more exclusive list than perfect games. And we are the franchise who traded that guy.

Although I briefly remember Mike Cameron and Carlos Delgado doing it; I remember Shawn Green and Mark Whiten’s historic nights well.

-Jay Bruce hit streak update: 11 games, 17 of 41 (.415), 7 HR, 14 RBI, 1.499 OPS during this streak.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers Tagged With: , , ,

Game 28, 2012: Reds put it all together in 6-1 win over Brewers

May 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com] [Mark Sheldon] [Redleg Nation]

This was one of the most complete efforts on the year so far for the Reds. It probably starts with Bunny Arroyo’s fine outing on the mound. He somehow struck out nine Brewers, allowed only the mammoth home run to Ryan Braun and walked just one. He’s now 2-1 on the season with a 2.75 ERA. The Reds starters are getting it done, between Bunny’s fine effort and what Mat Latos did on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

The Reds pounded out another ten hits last night, with a lot of the damage coming in that big 4th inning. This is either the first time they’ve been a couple games over .500 this season, or it sure feels like it. It’s really no time to relax even though they’ve taken four of five and 11 of 16 games. This is the time to keep the foot on the gas and make a run.

How about Bruce’s monster home run last night? That was the longest home run I’ve ever seen him hit. He ran it with humility and didn’t show up Marco Estrada, but that thing traveled to Kenosha, WI. Couple of hits for Brandon Phillips, couple of hits for Ryan Hanigan, Zach Cozart homered; everyone really contributed.

Homer Bailey and Yovani Gallardo I’m a little worried about tonight.

Highlights:

Bruce hits a MONSTER 442-foot home run (9)

Bunny Arroyo was magnificent

Welcome back, Miguel Cairo

Zach Cozart solo bomb (3) ties the game

Joey Votto RBI Double gives the Reds the lead

Ryan Braun goes yard off Bronson Arroyo early, his 9th

Potpourri:

-Jay Bruce’s home run is worth checking out Hit Tracker for the first time this year if you haven’t.

-Behind Atlanta’s Michael Bourn, Bruce has the second longest active hitting streak in baseball now at 10 games. He’s gone 15 of 37, for a .405 average. He’s slugging 1.027 during the life of the streak. He’s got six homers, 12 RBI, and ten runs during it. Bruce had two 12-game hitting streaks as a rookie.

-Check out my buddy Dave here with Sal Fasano, on “What it takes to be a great catcher”. I remember when Jeff Pearlman told me that Fasano was one of the best pro-athletes he had ever met in terms of humility and just being a great human being. Great work on this Dave.

-Ended up owing my wife a trip to UDF for ice-cream when the Reds had that big inning. Where’s the Peach!?!?

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Game 25, 2012: Sister Christian Oh the Time Has Come

May 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com]

The Reds got a little bit of everything you want to see in a 6-1 Friday night win at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs, and Zach Cozart all homered. The rest of the guys added five additional extra-base hits. Johnny Cueto went the distance to improve to 4-0 on the season, striking out four and walking no one.

The Cardinals lost to the Astros last night 5-4 in Houston. Now the Reds have a chance to get a couple games above the .500 mark and begin a winning-streak on Cinco De Mayo Saturday. What more could you ask for? They must win at all costs today whether that win come ugly or pretty like last evening. The Reds just have to keep rolling.

Highlights:

Bruce homers to right field (8)

Cozart & Stubbs go back-to-back

Brandon Phillips RBI single

Cueto’s sparkling outing

Ryan Hanigan RBI double

Potpourri:

It’s Cinco De Mayo. It’s a great holiday. In honor of the day that Adam Dunn always seemed to hit bombs on, we present to you the only batter walk-up song that Dunn used during his time in Cincinnati: a little Night Ranger. And maybe, just maybe; Dunn will go deep today in Detroit.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Holidays designed to get guys in trouble, Pittsburgh Pirates Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Game 24, 2012: Cubs fail to play for 27 outs

May 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com] [Mark Sheldon]

Frustrate you as they may, and they were frustrating for eight long innings with Ryan Dempster on the hill; there’s one thing you can say about the Reds. This group will force you to play for 27 outs, and if you don’t they’ll send you home losers.

The Reds entered the ninth inning trailing by a score of 3-0. They had just three hits on the day until that point. And then Carlos Marmol gave them the air supply they desperately needed.

He walked Willie Harris to lead off the ninth, which was a bad idea since Harris hasn’t collected a base-hit all season thus far. Joey Votto followed with a walk of his own. Brandon Phillips hit a ground ball to Ian Stewart, and the usually sound defense of the Cubs imploded. Stewart booted the ball and Harris scored. Jay Bruce followed with a sharp single. Ryan Ludwick walked to make it 3-2. Devin Mesoraco hit into a double play but the game was tied at 3-3.

The Reds found a way to win it in the 10th on a sacrifice fly by Scott Rolen that scored Zach Cozart. What should have been a 4-4 homestand became a 5-3 homestand. The Reds were back to .500 and the Cardinals which gave them renewed life.

The Reds knack for the comeback just might be their best quality. They had absolutely nothing yesterday and they still found a way to beat the opposition.

Highlights:

Homer Bailey’s 4th quality start in five outings

Starlin Castro’s first dinger of the year

Zach Cozart’s great diving stop

Rolen’s sac-fly to win it

Potpourri:

  • This was the first time in MLB history that two starting pitchers shared a birthday on the day of the game started. Bailey is now 26, while Dempter is 35.
  • I’m now getting old enough that I can remember games a full decade ago. Ten years ago to the day the Reds lost a game 6-1 in San Francisco. Their lineup went Larkin, Juan Encarnacion, Sean Casey, Dunn, Aaron Boone, Todd Walker, Austin Kearns, Corky Miller, and Jose Rijo started on the mound.
  • A decade ago to the day, Adam Dunn had 25 career home runs. Dunn now has 372 as of last evening, including this monster home run last night off Cleveland’s Dan Wheeler.
Filed Under: Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Game 17, 2012: This is the Mat Latos We Were Searching For

April 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com] [Bay City Ball] [Mercury News] [The Splash]

Now this is the Mat Latos we traded for.

If the Reds get this Latos to show up more often than not this season, it’s pretty self-explanatory what’s going to happen. The Reds can be a monster.

I didn’t think the Reds had a chance in Hell last night when I saw Matt Cain was pitching.

I was excited the Reds were playing today until I saw 'Cain'. And Cain it will be.
April 24, 2012 3:08 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@DiamondHoggers
Diamond Hoggers

But I was wrong. I felt like the Reds had three key at-bats in the bottom of the first-inning that were game altering. Zach Cozart opened the game up with a 10-pitch showdown against Cain, and although he flew out to short; the Reds had opened up Cain for head shots with a few nice early body blows from their lead-off hitter. I’ll say it again, these are the type of at-bats that win you ballgames at the onset.

Drew Stubbs doubled, and after Joey Votto struck out Brandon Phillips had another battling type at-bat that resulted in a two-run home run. The Reds were off to the races and a bonus came later in the inning because Jay Bruce and Scott Rolen got Matt Cain to throw even more pitches.

It’s impossible to get these professional at-bats game in and game out. But picked a good pitcher to do this against. You don’t need these kind of at-bats to beat the Barry Zito’s of the world or the Randy Wells’. Matt Cain doesn’t make that first inning mistake to Phillips that landed in the Cincinnati bullpen unless you grind on him like the Reds did. Notice that he settled in and was basically unscathed for the rest of his outing.

The Reds great perseverance in their at-bats also still called for a couple of big pitches by Mat Latos. With the bases juiced, he lured the red-hot Nate Schierholtz to ground out with the bases loaded. That opened the door for the Reds to shoot up the San Francisco Giants like the Alamo.

Great start to a homestand.

Highlights:

Bark in the Park last night in Cincinnati – (Sorry we didn’t make it this time, Bentley)

Phillips two-run home run

Bruce bases-loaded double

Retaliation for Votto being plunked?

Latos’ strong outing

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Game 13, 2012: Reds Stave off Sweep in St. Louis

April 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

Cincinnati.com | Better off Red | Mark Sheldon | C70 at the bat

Analysis:

I texted a couple of my buddies who share my love/hate with the Reds with me yesterday while perusing the box score. The Reds had closed out a key 6-3 win in their house of horrors against a hot St. Louis Cardinals team. They had lived to fight another day. The season wasn’t over, yet. Bronson Arroyo came up big as he has in the past on a day where you had to have a win, only allowing a three-run bomb to Matt Holliday.

The usual crew of Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Drew Stubbs, and Jay Bruce had a say in the win.

“You know what kind of teams play to avoid sweeps? Bad ones,” my friend responded to my text. I guess he isn’t optimistic like I am. But I quickly texted him back–I have a feeling that the Reds will go into Sunday with a chance to sweep the Cubbies this weekend–and if they do all will be right with the world again.

You can’t sweep a team until you win one. The Reds can’t go on a winning streak until they win this afternoon at Wrigley behind Homer Bailey. It’s got to happen first.

Video:

Brandon Phillips solo home run puts the Reds on the board

Joey Votto RBI single

Drew Stubbs solo home run

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Guest Spot: MTD weighs in on the Phillips Extension

April 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Walt Jocketty is 1/8 Mayan. Did you know that? I didn’t either until he started handing out massive contracts over the past week. With the end of the world looming later this year, the Reds general manager extended Joey Votto for 10 years and $225 million and came to a six-year agreement with Brandon Phillips on Tuesday.

Six years and $72.5 million is an awful lot of time and money to give to a 30-year-old second baseman whose defensive metrics are all over the place. UZR/150 likes him as an above average to excellent defender. FRAA sees him as an alternating version of terrible and good. That helps explain the wild variations from site to site when looking at his wins above replacement and, subsequently, his value.

With no real rooting interest in the Reds, I don’t have to share Mevs’ bright-eyed optimism about locking up one of “our guys.” Unless the Reds signed a cash cow of a radio deal with WKRP, they don’t have the big boy money to make mistakes. And signing veteran players to long term contracts is almost always a mistake.

So let’s press our luck and see if the Reds are going to come up with a Whammy or that deluxe cruise to 1978 San Juan. Phillips had his career year in 2011 according to a 6.0 fWAR (Fangraphs wins above replacement) and 4.1 bWAR (Baseball-Reference wins above replacement). His 3.3 WARP (wins above replacement player) was a tick behind his career high 3.4 in 2010.

Assuming a win is worth $5 million of the free agent market, Phillips would have to be worth ~12 wins over the course of the extension. Let’s call it 15 for the sake of inflation. The good news is that 30 second basemen have accumulated a 15 WAR or higher from their age 30 to 36 seasons. The bad news is that list is led by names like Joe Morgan, Nap Jajoie, Rogers Hornsby, Craig Biggio and Ryne Sandberg. Chase Utley comes in at 30 on that list and he was one of the most undervalued players in baseball for years.

For Phillips, the value will come down to how you measure him defensively. If you see him as an above average/plus defender at second, he should hit enough to make the contract and perhaps exceed the $72.5 million. If you see him as a replacement level defender who can’t last six years at second and can’t move to first base, well now things don’t look so hot.

I might be more in the latter camp than the former but I don’t have access to Field/FX data nor am I John Dewan. My initial reaction to this deal is that’s about where I’d have set the over/under on value. I wouldn’t give a 30-year-old a six year deal, or five for that matter, but Phillips has a much better chance to give the Reds their money back in value than Votto. He’s also pretty good at Twitter. Which is at least worth .03 wins.

M.J. Lloyd is the owner and creator of Off Base Percentage. He also writes for Halo Hangout and Baseball Prospectus. Follow him on twitter, @mnkysthrwndrts for more goodies.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds Tagged With: , , , , ,
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