Atlanta Braves Close to Acquiring 2B Brandon Phillips

In a surprising development tonight, the Atlanta Braves are said to be close to consummating a deal that has medical implications wrapped all over it.

Throughout this nearly-completed off-season, the Atlanta Braves have found themselves in the midst of a number of rumors attaching them to virtually any available player that could be considered a second base upgrade.

Tonight:  that search may be over, but for reasons not all together pleasant.

Frankly, I’m not certain who sleeps less:  Braves General Manager John Coppolella or FOX Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal.  That aside, there’s a reason why this deal is coming together now.

But wait… two minutes later there was an update:

Let’s take a look at the full story here.  It was almost 2 weeks ago that Sean Rodriguez and his family were involved in a serious car accident – one that took the life of the perpetrator who stole the Miami police vehicle involved.

At the time, it was believed the Sean had escaped serious injury, but that news appears to have been inaccurate as the following days have lead Rodriguez to get checked more fully.

This is obviously a major blow to the Braves – who must have been looking at Rodriguez to be their starting second baseman with Jace Peterson moving to a full time utility role.

Rodriguez might also have shared time with Adonis Garcia at third base, but that is clearly off the table now.

Also: rather than pursue Phillips, Atlanta could have considered promoting Ozzie Albies to take the spot being vacated in the wake of Rodriguez’ injury, but an acquisition of Phillips suggests strongly that this move isn’t likely to be in the cards any time soon.

Phillips to Atlanta, Part 2?

In early January, ESPN and others reported that the Braves and Reds have put together a deal to bring Brandon Phillips back home to Atlanta (he spent his High School years in Stone Mountain) back in November.

However, at that time Phillips invoked his rights under the “10 and 5” rule (10 years in the league; 5 years with the same club) to veto that deal.  The clubs did not opt to revisit that deal at the time, but as noted, the Braves continued to be linked to other second basemen around the league.

Many of these rumors were speculative in nature, but the preponderance and persistence of the reports did seem odd.

So what’s different this time?  Has Phillips been asked?

Apparently so…