Atlanta Braves Close to Acquiring 2B Brandon Phillips

What is that deal, anyway?

2017 is the last year of Phillips’ contract, which was one of 3 long-term deals that have dogged the Reds for some time (along with those of Homer Bailey (3 more seasons) and Joey Votto (6 more)).

This was a 6 year, $72 million pact that will still pay him $14 million in 2017.  But does that mean the Braves will be saddled with that payout?  Details are not yet available, but the speculation is out there:

“They” in this case would be the Reds.  This also brings us to the other part of the program:  what – or perhaps who – will the Braves be giving up.

Ken Rosenthal confirms:

The answer is (again) unknown at this hour, but this deal will need to balance out four considerations:

• The Braves’ immediate need
• The Reds desire to get Phillips out of Cincinnati and (ironically enough) install one-time Braves’ top prospect Jose Peraza as their second baseman.
• The Reds desire to save something of Phillips’ salary
• The Braves desire not to spend too much cash on someone they might have to trade or release down the road.

Two other things we’re also told from Cincy beat writers tonight – who don’t sleep, either, but also have the advantage of being in a Western time zone while waiting for the Reds to appear in Arizona next week:

• No, Coppy isn’t getting a Competitive Balance draft pick in this deal (Buchanan tweet)
• Phillips is the only player involved from Cincy (Buchanan again)

Here’s some fan speculation on who the Braves could be sending in return:

Any of these names would make sense depending on the money involved… it comes down to whoever the Reds might wish to “buy” and/or how much the Braves want to give to reduce their cost for Phillips.