I'll respond to if the trade were to happen and why I don't like it. I don't feel the need to put someone down for putting out a rumor rather true or not so I'll leave that to everyone else. I think the Reds would be stupid to trade Phillips but I've come to terms that it will happen. He wore out his welcome with the man that signs his checks and the rumors that he and Votto don't get along probably doesn't help his case either, nor does it help the clubhouse. The fact that they've tried to move him publically at this point really looks bad and does no one any good if you can't move him. I also hope they resign Bailey, but if they believe he won't sign here then I wouldn't blame them for moving him. On a side note, had Bailey not thrown those two no-hitters what do you think his value would be worth compared to the fact that he has? The trade itself could make sense for both teams. The Dodgers want rid of Kemp and we want rid of Phillips. I don't like Kemp because he's too injury-prone. Assuming it were true. You can play Kemp in center, Ludwick in left, obviously Bruce in right for this year. This allows you to use Hamilton as your fourth outfielder, spot start him and let him prove his worth. Then you're not handcuffed by playing a kid 162 games that couldn't hit in the minors and all of a sudden can't hit in the majors. And Ludwick is only signed one more year, so hopefully Hamilton learns enough to start in 2015 and you can slide Kemp to left field. As far as the Dodgers are concerned, they need a third baseman. They could slide Ramirez to third, where he's played before and get either the new kid or Phillips to play SS. Let them worry about Ramirez pouting playing third and Phillips pouting playing short. If we get the Dodgers to eat a few million a year on Kemp's contract then we're not really paying much more per year than paying Phillip's and Choo can go get overpaid elsewhere. Phillips, Choo and Arroyo got paid what, 35-38 million this year between them? With that off the books you can pay Kemp and sign Infante, which 700 was reporting today that the Reds are showing interst in and bring back Arroyo to a cheaper deal for around the same money. I don't think the market for Arroyo is what he was hoping and he really wants to re-sign here. The deal could make sense although Jocketty doesn't seem the type to buy a huge long-term contract for an injury-prone player. Of course I also thought he wouldn't be the type to sign Votto for the money they gave him. I think the deal could make sense, but I don't like it. I like Infante, but he's not Brandon Phillips at the plate or with the glove and he's not a lomg-term solution at second. Kemp is injury-prone and my guess is wherever he ends up he turns out like Griffey did when he came here, can't stay healthy and even when he is in there his production drops and he's not worth the money. And I like Bailey, but production-wise you could argue he was our least effective starter last year, at least the most inconsistent. He's got two no-nos which speaks for itself, but he was a .500 pitcher last year. Actually he went 11-12, although his 3.49 ERA is solid. He will command a huge price tag because of his youth and the no-hit stuff he's proven to have. Not sure the Reds can re-sign him and Latos and keep Cueto. I'd rather keep Latos than Bailey if I had to choose and Bailey probably has more trade value right now than Cueto. I agree this rumor kind of seems out of left field (no pun intended), but you never know and whoever did start this rumor it has to come from some sort of information someone has. I don't think someone just made it up with no reason to back it up. My guess is the trade was brought up and considered by both teams and someone got wind of it in the middle of the talks and ran with it to be the first to break the news.
