MLB: Cincinnati Reds To Trade Aroldis Chapman, Todd Frazier, Brandon Phillips?
The Cincinnati Reds finished the 2015 season with a 64-98 record, second worst in the entire MLB. Reds general manager Dick Williams and president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty were present at the General Managers Meetings in Florida and hinted that the club will listen to offers for all their players, per Cincinnati.com.
"I don't know if we're in a position to say there are any untouchables. There's certainly guys who would be much more difficult to move, but we have to be open-minded to whatever we can do to improve the club for the long term," Jocketty said.
The players the Reds may move include closer Aroldis Chapman, third baseman Todd Frazier, and veteran second baseman Brandon Phillips. The Red Reporter mentioned that outfielder Jay Bruce and star first baseman Joey Votto are also candidates to be traded.
However, The New York Post noted that Votto would be very difficult to trade because of his huge contract with nine more years and $213 million. It is also hard to find takers for Bruce because of the high number of outfielders available in free agency.
The most likely candidates to be traded are Chapman, Frazier and Phillips. The New York Post gave some of the reasons Cincinnati will be moving their hard-throwing left-handed closer. First is that Chapman will become a free agent after the 2016 season and the Reds have no plans on giving him a contract extension.
He is also due to earn about $13 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility and the Reds would want something in return. Chapman is considered a very hot commodity in the trade market and Cincinnati can get a few position player prospects for him.
As for Frazier, the Red Reporter pointed out that he is very marketable for teams looking for a big bat. He is not high-priced like the other sluggers in free agency and a team like the Houston Astros can give a few prospects for his services.
According to FOX Sports, the Reds are already in preliminary talks with the Arizona Diamondbacks about a swap of second basemen. Cincinnati will send Brandon Phillips to Arizona for Aaron Hill straight up.
The Reds will be taking on a one-year rental in Hill and relief in terms of salary flexibility while the Diamondbacks upgrade their infield at a cost of $27 million for two years. The only problem for both sides is Phillips can veto any trade because of his no-trade clause.
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