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.
Some folks are saying, "why get Phillips when you had Yunel?" Was it worth an extra $7MM this year, an extra $13 or $14MM or so next, plus undisclosed prospects, in order to get a reliever (Gott) and Phillips?
I think the answer is that, yes, Phillips is worth the extra $7MM this year relative to Yunel. He is likely to hit better (both may regress, but Yunel is likely to fall further from a career year even w/o considering age), but, even if you ignore the hitting, the defense including range is probably worth an extra game this year. Escobar was going to play 2d this year, unless that did not work in which case he would have been at SS. Phillips is at least a win better defensively at 2d; if Yunel were forced to play SS, an Escobar/ Espinosa combo instead of an Espinosa/ Phillips combo at SS & 2d may be more than a win worse.
Tougher points for me is the impact on Turner's development. I assume that DE is not going to block him, but it does mean Turner breaks in at SS without the easier fallback to 2d.
