Per Jim Bowden on Twitter:
↵↵↵The Cincinnati Reds are prepared to guarantee a 6-year 72.5m to Brandon Phillips and I am predicting the deal will get done in next 24 hours
↵— JIM BOWDEN (@JimBowdenESPNxm) April 10, 2012↵↵
↵↵
↵I’m still not sure if I should trust a thing Bowden says, but if this is true, the previously-announced Ian Kinsler extension would look very nice next to it.
↵Brandon Phillips is a nice player, bouncing between a floor of very good and a ceiling of elite over the past five seasons. He is not, however, quite on Kinsler’s level, and is also a year older.
↵Should the reports be correct, and the Rangers pick up Kinsler’s option, Texas would be paying only $7.5 million more over the next six years for their better, younger second baseman. Without the option, they spend a bit more per year, but are not locked in quite as long as the Reds. Cincinnati would be paying Phillips in to his age 37 year under this deal.
↵This is not a bad deal for the Reds at all, it’s just that in no time flat the Kinsler extension looks even better when compared to what peers are getting.