Brandon Phillips has arguably been the best player on the Reds since he came aboard in 2006. Over those five seasons, he has seen one winning season while the Reds stockpiled their farm system and watched a lot of guys develope in to stars. He became the first Red to reach the 30-30 mark for 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season, the last to reach that was Barry Larkin.
Phillips has seen his stats start to drop the last few seasons since he reached that plateau and it's starting to look as if the farm system is catching up to him. A lot of people see prospect Billy Hamilton being Phillips replacement if and when Phillips is to leave for any reason.
Brandon has been the heart and soul of this team for years and I would hate to see him go. He has a great personality and is always out there making spectacular plays on defense. He is a fan favorite on the team and a huge part of our future if you ask me.
I do think the Reds are going to keep him around even if they have to overpay him a little. It's going to be hard to trade Phillips without sending a ton of money with him because nobody is going to want an aging guy who is making 11 or 12 million a year. In one sense it would be smart to unload Phillips contract since the contracts of Bruce, Votto, Cueto, and Arroyo are going to keep rising as the years go by. The Reds aren't going to be able to pay market value for all these guys while consistantly never selling out crowds or finding ways to make money.
Jocketty is banking on raises in attendence to help increase the budget for years to come. I hope he's right because last year was very exciting following the Reds and I would hate to go back to losing seasons.
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