Ever since Robinson Cano left the New York Yankees for
greener pastures, and uniforms, the New York Yankees have had a revolving door
and gaping hole at the second base position. Many names have been mentioned as
potential replacements for Cano including the Cincinnati Reds second baseman
Brandon Phillips. Despite his declining defense and troubling offensive stats
the Reds tried to pry Brett Gardner from New York in a trade in December of
2013 and that sort of trade may be proposed again except this time the Yankees
may accept.
I am of the same mindset of Robert Refsnyder is lately, he’s
not getting called up so why even give a crap. New York has proven this time
and time again with the signing of Stephen Drew and the unwillingness to even
give Refsnyder a shot. So if the team won’t call up Refsnyder and won’t give
Jose Pirela a legitimate shot to work out the kinks then will that push the
Yankees into the trade market?
Phillips looks a bit more attractive now than he did back in
the winter of 2013 mainly because years and salary have come off his contract.
New York was wise to keep Gardner then and would immediately hang up on the
rebuilding Reds GM now if Gardner’s name were muttered. This time around
Phillips would be more of a salary dump, Phillips is owed $34 million until
2017, and would cost the Yankees less in the terms of prospects and players.
Honestly it may cost the Yankees Refsnyder, and I would seriously consider my
place as a fan of this team if that were to happen, but that’s the way the
cookie crumbles. I would rather see Refsnyder get a shot with Cincinnati’s big
league club then to see him rot in Triple-A here only to be seen on our weekly
prospects check ins. So is the curse of being a New York Yankees prospect I
guess.
Phillips just turned 34 years old on Sunday and is currently
slashing .290/.324/.371 with four home runs, 28 RBI and 11 steals in a hitting
friendly ballpark in Cincinnati. Phillips is sporting a .316 BABIP, which is
far above his career .293 BABIP, so a regression seems imminent for Phillips
but I don’t think he’ll fall so far that we jokingly make comments about moving
and renaming the Mendoza Line after him. Even if he does regress he can be
better than Drew and force Drew to where he belongs, the bench, while still
handing the club above-average defense, speed and stolen bases. Phillips may
not lead the team to October baseball and the World Series alone but he would
make many fans, including myself, worry far less about the future of the second
base position.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)