Welcome home Brandon Phillips!!! . . . On 2d thought . . .

[HalfSmokes]

I'm sure he prefers to be in a hockey city instead of Cinci.  He is a natural replacement for Desmond so we maintain the Expos franchise presence.

Bens > skyline

[MarquisDeSade]

Bens > skyline

Diarrhea > Bens > Skyline

[varoadking]

Yunel's average the last 6 years-  .314, .258, .256,. 253, .290, .256- do you really expect him to put up .314 ever again?

We traded an apple and $7MM...for an apple.  Shrewd that Rizzo is...

[Baseball is Life]

Does he have the OBP to hit leadoff?

The dude is a huge showboater. Always rubbed me the wrong way. Now he's going to be rubbing the fans of other teams the wrong way.

[Baseball is Life]

Shrewd that Rizzo is...

Is this a Star Wars reference or is that just me?

[bk1998]

Does he have the OBP to hit leadoff?

The dude is a huge showboater. Always rubbed me the wrong way. Now he's going to be rubbing the fans of other teams the wrong way.

hahahahaha no.

He had a walk percentage of around 4% last year.

[Rasta]

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN  5m5 minutes ago
Lots of hurdles for Reds and Brandon Phillips to work out before a trade is approved. Far from a slam dunk.

Barry Svrluga ‏@barrysvrluga  6m6 minutes ago
On Brandon Phillips-to-Nats: Washington officials are awaiting word from Reds, who are responsible for convincing him to waive no-trade.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal  4m4 minutes ago
Ken Rosenthal Retweeted Barry Svrluga
From Washington Post. Again, Phillips wants significant benefit to OK deal.

[mitlen]

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN  5m5 minutes ago
Lots of hurdles for Reds and Brandon Phillips to work out before a trade is approved. Far from a slam dunk.

Barry Svrluga ‏@barrysvrluga  6m6 minutes ago
On Brandon Phillips-to-Nats: Washington officials are awaiting word from Reds, who are responsible for convincing him to waive no-trade.

Don't  beg.    Ya wanna come to DC, fine.   If ya don't, stay in Ohio.

[Ray D]

He had a walk percentage of around 4% last year.

That's Dusty's kind of lead off guy.

[dcpatti]

Don't  beg.    Ya wanna come to DC, fine.   If ya don't, stay in Ohio.

Seriously!! Have you been to Cincy lately? You'd think the guy would be packed up and picking out drapes for the new place already.

[Slateman]

hahahahaha no.

He had a walk percentage of around 4% last year.

So did the Royals' leadoff hitter

[Baseball is Life]

Don't  beg.    Ya wanna come to DC, fine.   If ya don't, stay in Ohio.

Exactly. Begging is unattractive.

You want players who are dying to be on your team.

[bk1998]

So did the Royals' leadoff hitter

So you're telling me the Royals left a few extra wins on the table?

Or are you telling me that the Nats have the rest of the roster (lineup, pitching, bullpen) to make this a fair comparison?

[bk1998]

Don't  beg.    Ya wanna come to DC, fine.   If ya don't, stay in Ohio.

BP's tweets have me thinking that this is a done deal.

[Slateman]

So you're telling me the Royals left a few extra wins on the table?

Or are you telling me that the Nats have the rest of the roster (lineup, pitching, bullpen) to make this a fair comparison?

No, but they've been hitting Escobar at the top of their lineup for 3 years now. You don't need some stupidly high walk rate to hit leadoff. In Span's best year here it was only 7.5%.

Royals left no wins on the table. I have no problem emulating them. And, frankly, a healthy Nationals lineup is better than the Royals lineup.

[Ray D]

Seriously!! Have you been to Cincy lately? You'd think the guy would be packed up and picking out drapes for the new place already.

But can you get Chili over spaghetti here?

[Slateman]

But can you get Chili over spaghetti here?

Yes

[HalfSmokes]

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal  4m4 minutes ago
Ken Rosenthal Retweeted Barry Svrluga
From Washington Post. Again, Phillips wants significant benefit to OK deal.

I like the trade if the prospects are marginal and if you don't have to add any money- if phillips wants an extension or more cash, then walk away

[bk1998]

No, but they've been hitting Escobar at the top of their lineup for 3 years now. You don't need some stupidly high walk rate to hit leadoff. In Span's best year here it was only 7.5%.

Royals left no wins on the table. I have no problem emulating them. And, frankly, a healthy Nationals lineup is better than the Royals lineup.

The Royals have a lot of things that they've done right, no argument there.

But if they're doing something that's foolish, it's not like we can't look at that as something that can't be fixed.

Hitting Escobar leadoff is a mistake.  Him being a bad leadoff hitter isn't mutually exclusive with the Royals having a great whole product.

A healthy Nationals lineup is a pipedream.  Sure, I guess there's a non-zero chance that Werth, Zim, and everyone else stays healthy, but it won't happen.  A stiff breeze is likely to cause Zim to pull a muscle.

In this sense, I like BP as it gives the team some more depth, which we badly need.  I'm just really worried about the Dusty-BP combo in that it gives Dusty a chance to hit his guy high in our lineup (a mistake) and allows Dusty to keep talented youngsters out of the lineup in favor of veterans (perhaps a mistake??).

[varoadking]

Don't  beg.    Ya wanna come to DC, fine.   If ya don't, stay in Ohio.

Yes, stay in Ohio... 

[welch]

Phillips seems like the answer to a problem the Nats don't have. The team needs a CF who won't strikeout 150 or 160 times and will need a LF. However:

- Phillips has hit well and consistently. Struck out more than 100 times only once.

- Phillips gives the Nats a couple of years to prepare Turner (and Difo)

- Yunel might have had his all-time best hitting year in 2015, but he has gotten too slow to play SS and might not have converted to 2B

Still need an OF who can hit.

Who did the Nats trade to the Reds?

[Rasta]

Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeymanCBS  1m1 minute ago Florida, USA
phillips should not try for $, & just thank lucky stars he'd go from non-contender to contender w/ manager he loves (dusty)

My thoughts exactly.

[Monarch]

I don't get the hate for Phillips. he'll be one of the better 2b we've probably ever had (yes, even at his age). its only for 2 years and add the fact that our new manager loves him. there's a lot more to like. we were gonna offer 200 mil for Heyward. this is 173 million less and not one cent comes out of our pockets (except at the beer line. but then you can spin it that its free beer! all you had to do was chip in for the players!). Plus, all the other guys you all want might not be attainable.

[raleighnat]

Assuming the price is 1-2 middling prospects, I don't see what there isn't to like.  Even if you think Turner is ready or Espinosa is adequate, the problem is that there is zero depth up the middle even if everything worked out perfectly for both of them.  I always pull for Espinosa, but I'm really surprised to see all of the Danny love.  When Turner is ready, Espinosa seems best suited to being a utility or bench player (that is very valuable in that role).

To me, Escobar is unrelated.  I do not view him as a middle infielder and unless you are going to play Rendon out of position for his entire career in DC, it was a great trade to sell high, free up third, and get some bullpen help.  Assuming there is no payroll relief, then I think there is a valid criticism of acquiring Phillips because of money.  But we obviously have it to spend and the overall contract just isn't big enough to be restrictive.  If it goes through, I think we're better and deeper.

[3bside]

It's interesting that it's the Reds who are negotiating with Phillips to waive the no-trade.  It sounds like they may be picking up some of the money, which also hopefully means that we're not giving up a lot in the way of prospects.