It took the Reds a couple years, but they’ve finally found somewhere to dump Brandon Phillips’ and his $14mil salary.  Well, “dump” might not be the right word.  Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Zach Buchanan is reporting that the Reds are responsible for $13 million of that contract.   In return, the Braves are sending left-handed pitcher Andrew McKirahan and right-hander Carlos Portuondo to Cincinnati.  McKirahan, 27, missed last year because of his second Tommy John surgery.  Portuondo, 29, is a Cuban whose played a grand total of 17 minor league games.  Neither of these new additions have been added to the Reds’ 40 man roster.  Now, that doesn’t mean one or both can’t eventually find their way into the Reds’ pen this year, but this isn’t much of a haul.

Why were the Reds willing to get so little for, arguably, the second best second baseman in franchise history?

It all started back in December of 2014.  In one day, the Reds traded away two-fifths of their starting rotation.  Mat Latos was sent to the Marlins for Anthony DeSclafani, and Alfredo Simon went to Detroit for Eugenio Suarez (both were amazingly good deals for the Reds, but I digress).   Looking back now, the snap judgment could be that the Reds were entering a rebuilding phase.  Not really.

The remaining three starters – Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey, and Mike Leake were pretty doggone good.  The fourth and fifth starters were projected to be some combination of the recently acquired DeSclafani, a then up-and-coming Tony Cingrani, and Raisel Iglesias, who’d been signed out of Cuba the year before.  That had the makings of a pretty strong staff.  The fact that the Reds felt good about there chances was confirmed when they traded for veteran left fielder, Marlon Byrd, two weeks later.

The projected everyday lineup for 2015 was…

• C Devin Mesoraco
• 1B Joey Votto
• 2B Brandon Phillips
• 3B Todd Frazier
• SS Zach Cozart
• LF Marlon Byrd
• CF Billy Hamilton
• RF Jay Bruce

2015 began with Devin Mesoraco’s hip injury.  Homer Bailey missed, essentially, the whole season.  On June 20th, after the best stretch of his pro career. Zack Cozart tore his ACL, and the Reds season was officially in the tank.  By July 1, the Reds were 35-41 and had officially become “sellers”.  Cueto, Leake, and Byrd were traded in succession for prospects.  Still, though, it was too early to call this the start of a rebuild.  2015 was a lost season and the Reds had unloaded three contract-year vets that they were undoubtedly going to lose to free agency in the offseason.  It was a short-term step backward, but it wasn’t giving up.

That was still six months away.  Dec 16, 2015, the Reds traded Todd Frazier, who had two years of team control left, to the White Sox in a three team deal with the Dodgers.  Shortly after, Aroldis Chapman was given to the Yankees for a bag of spare parts.  When the season, predictably wound up in the tank, Jay Bruce was dealt to the Mets.

At the beginning of this offseason, Dick Williams took the reins as the Reds’ General Manager and has made two deals.  First, he sold high and shipped Dan Straily to Miami for prospects.  Now, he’s FINALLY gotten rid of Brandon Phillips.  Folks outside of Cincinnati should be forgiven for not understanding how important this move was.  It takes more than a casual glance to see it.

Eugenio Suarez, acquired in the Simon deal two years ago, is playing out of position at third base.  He’s a natural second baseman, who could play short or left field, but is ill-suited for third.  Suarez has a good bat, but he lacks the power to be a real asset as a corner infielder.  Then, if you look at current list of Reds prospects, you’ll likely miss the real problem.  Two of the best prospects in the Reds’ system are Jose Peraza (added in the Frazier deal),  and Dilson Herrera (the centerpiece of the Bruce trade).  Those guys constitute two of the top three offensive prospects on the Reds’ farm.  However, they both have just a few too many Major League games under their belt to qualify as “prospects”.  That certainly, though, doesn’t change the fact they are ready to play every day in the big leagues.

With Brandon Phillips out of the way, there’s now an everyday spot in the lineup for one of those youngsters.  When Zack Cozart is dealt, the Reds will be out of veterans to trade and the rebuild will be over.  Joey Votto?  Yeah.  That’s not gonna happen.