Brandon Phillips will not become a Bronx Bomber after the New York Yankees rejected a trade offer from the Cincinnati Reds that would have landed the second baseman in pinstripes in exchange for outfielder Brett Gardner, according to multiple reports.
ESPN reports that the Reds offered Phillips to the Yankees--who are looking for a second baseman to replace the departed Robinson Cano after he left for the Seattle Mariners and were reportedly open to listening to trades involving Gardner--but the team wasn't interested.
The Yankees lost their second baseman to a 10-year $240 million deal with the Seattle Mariners, but were able to bolster their outfield by nabbing free agents Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury. With the new additions, it was reported that the Yankees had no plans to trade Gardner but would listen to other teams on Gardner due to their new found depth in the outfield, however a move for Phillips didn't take.
Ellsbury is slated to play center field for the Yankees while Beltran will man right field and if Gardner stays with the team he will play left field and rotate with Alfonso Soriano as the team's designated hitter.
New York also has Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells as its outfield reserves, meaning that they could possibly be inclined to move Gardner, though the Reds deal didn't strike them as a necessity.
Gardner, 30, hit .273 with eight homers and 52 RBIs last season for the Yankees while also racking up 24 stolen bases.
It had been reported that the Reds were trying to move Phillips after he's had a couple of public flair ups in recent years, the first being his public bashing of the team during his contract extension negotiations where he called ownership "liars" and the second being his dust up with a reporter who criticized his low on-base percentage.
Phillips, 32, hit .261 with 18 homers and a career-high 103 RBIs last year with the Reds. In 2014, he will be in the third year of his six-year $72.5 million deal but is reportedly looking to re-open negotiations to make more money.
It remains to be seen if the Reds will end up finding a trade partner for Phillips or if the Yankees will deal Gardner, but for now they won't be swapping teams.
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