Trade Phillips and put Keppinger at 2B?

[ChatterRed]

Anyone interested in saving Phillips $5 million salary and installing Keppinger at 2B?

Did you realize that out of players with atleast 450 at-bats this year, that Keppinger lead all of mlb in strikeouts per at-bat with a rate of 19.1 AB/SO..........he only had 24 in 459 at-abats. In other words, he makes contact. I also think his .260 average was a result of not being completely healthy. http://www.baseball-reference.com/le..._leagues.shtml



Gonzalez will be back at SS next year because they owe him too much money.

What do you think?

[Lockdwn11]

I would be interested in trading anyone not named Volquez, Bruce, or Cueto if the returns were right but I wouldn't go shoping him . I think this team is better if Keppinger isn't in the starting lineup in 08

[Nasty_Boy]

I'm all for trading Phillips because of the return he could bring. There is enough talent in the majors to take over for Kepp at 2nd in the near future. Just make the team better, I don't care who has to be traded.

And the K/AB thing means nothing. It just lead to a lot of DPs and harmless groundouts.

[fadetoblack2880]

i'd rather have phillips unless you can get another 2b like him. keppinger coming off the bench would be ideal.

[bubbachunk]

After seeing him for a full season I do not want Kepp "starting" for my team anywhere unless it is spot duty as a supersub

[tommycash]

I don't see how putting Keppinger at 2B and trading Phillips away makes us better. That actually makes us worse at 2B. Kepp is a bench/role player in real life. We will be better with Phillips and Gonzo in the middle. EE and Votto will continue to improve next year. Bruce and maybe Dickerson in the outfield with a power bat bought in the outfield. Hanigan with a new face (by free agency) competing for the C spot, and a new 5th starter (either by prospects in our org or by FA or trade) this team will get better. We don't have to do anything to drastic. What was the difference between the Rays of last year and the Rays of this year? They traded Dukes for a minor leaguer, and Delmon Young for Garza and Harris. We traded Griffey for Masset and Richar, and Dunn for Castillo and Owings. The trades we made could make as much impact as the Rays did. But it was the young guys in the Rays system that won it for the Rays this year.

[roby]

I absolutely hate the idea of trading Brandon Phillips. If the Reds keep moving their good players, they never will get any good. Phillips brings a lot to the table both defensively and offensively. Is he perfect? No. But he is one of the best 2nd basemen in the game. Instead of treading water (i.e. we need pitching, so we trade Josh Hamilton for Edinson Volquez. NOW we need an outfielder. We trade Brandon for an outfielder. NOW we need a 2nd baseman. It just gets crazy). The Reds are going to have to play add on, not trade and make another hole. I certainly am glad that we have Volquez. But it is obvious that we opened up a major weakness in the outfield. The only way to stop this trend is to develop the farm system and make smart free agent signings. I would NOT trade Brandon Phillips!

[Nasty_Boy]

Brandon Phillips is NOT one of the best 2nd basemen in the league, unless by best you mean 10th or 11th.

[freestyle55]

Brandon Phillips is NOT one of the best 2nd basemen in the league, unless by best you mean 10th or 11th.

Really? Who are the 10 better than him, all around?

Not saying he's #1, the best player on the Reds, or should be hitting 4th, but would say he's in the 5-6-7 range...

[Lockdwn11]

Brandon Phillips is NOT one of the best 2nd basemen in the league, unless by best you mean 10th or 11th.

I will have to disagree with you on this. I would like to know who are the 2nd basemen you think are better.

[JayBruceFan]

Andy Phillips right?

[snowstorm]

Trading Phillips would be a bad move. I will admit that Phillips slipped a bit offensively from last year, but he still had 21 HR, 78 RBI, and had 80 runs. That's in addition to his defense. I have no problem with Phillips contract now that Griffey and Dunn's contracts are now gone. Keppinger is a nice backup, but does not have enough offensively to warrant starting. Despite hitting for a decent average, he had an OPS this year of only .657 and was not a power threat at all.

The guy would should be trying to trade is Arroyo IMO.

[BLEEDS]

I'm all for trading Phillips because of the return he could bring. There is enough talent in the majors to take over for Kepp at 2nd in the near future. Just make the team better, I don't care who has to be traded.

And the K/AB thing means nothing. It just lead to a lot of DPs and harmless groundouts.

What he said.

The other HUGE problem with BP is that he is recieving too much Man Love from Dusty, who will bat him 3rd or 4th if he's on this roster, which is about 3-4 spots lower than he deserves, except against Lefties.

I could live with him being packaged for just about anything that can OPS over .800 in OF/Corner IF, and pick from about 3-4 guys in the minors or cheap FA to fill in at 2B, if we don't go with Kepp long term (or he's playing SS).

PEACE

-BLEEDS

[BLEEDS]

Really? Who are the 10 better than him, all around?

Not saying he's #1, the best player on the Reds, or should be hitting 4th, but would say he's in the 5-6-7 range...

   Name Team                G       AB    R    H    2B    3B    HR    RBI    BB    K    SB    CS    AVG     OBP     SLG     OPS    
 Chase Utley PHI           159    607    113   177    41    4    33    104   64    104   14    2    .292    .380    .535    .915    
 Ian Kinsler TEX           121    518    102   165    41    4    18    71    45    67    26    2    .319    .375    .517    .892    
 Dan Uggla FLA             146    531    97    138    37    1    32    92    77    171   5     5    .260    .360    .514    .874    
 Dustin Pedroia BOS        157    653    118   213    54    2    17    83    50    52    20    1    .326    .376    .493    .869    
 Mark DeRosa CHC           149    505    103   144    30    3    21    87    69    106   6     0    .285    .376    .481    .857    
 Brian Roberts BAL         155    611    107   181    51    8     9    57    82    104   40    10   .296    .378    .450    .828    
 Kelly Johnson ATL         150    547    86    157    39    6    12    69    52    113   11    6    .287    .349    .446    .795    
 Alexei Ramirez CWS        136    480    65    139    22    2    21    77    18    61    13    9    .290    .317    .475    .792    
 Placido Polanco DET       141    580    90    178    34    3     8    58    35    43    7     1    .307    .350    .417    .768    
 Jose Lopez SEA            159    644    80    191    41    1    17    89    27    67    6     3    .297    .322    .443    .764    
 Brandon Phillips CIN      141    559    80    146    24    7    21    78    39    93    23    10   .261    .312    .442    .754    
 Ryan Theriot CHC          149    580    85    178    19    4     1    38    73    58    22    13   .307    .387    .359    .745    
 Rickie Weeks MIL          129    475    89    111    22    7    14    46    66    115   19    5    .234    .342    .398    .740    
 Akinori Iwamura TB        152    627    91    172    30    9     6    48    70    131   8     6    .274    .349    .380    .729    
 Robinson Cano NYY         159    597    70    162    35    3    14    72    26    65    2     4    .271    .305    .410    .715    
 Marco Scutaro TOR         145    517    76    138    23    1     7    60    57    65    7     2    .267    .341    .356    .697    
 Mark Ellis OAK            117    442    55    103    20    3    12    41    53    65    14    2    .233    .321    .373    .694    
 Freddy Sanchez PIT        145    569    75    154    26    2     9    52    21    63    0     1    .271    .298    .371    .669

Ranked by OPS, qualified MLB 2008, he's 11th.

Only 4 guys on this list have an OBP under .320, and Brandon's one of them.

I'd be hard pressed to take him over ANYONE ranked higher than him, and I could easily take 2-3 below him over him.

PEACE

-BLEEDS

[snowstorm]

Second base is not the problem with this team. I'd prefer just to stick with Phillips.

However, if the team does trade him, it had better be for another second baseman. Keppinger is not the answer here.