28-year old righty swinging Brandon Phillips is the best player on the Reds right now. He played in 153 games for the Reds last season and he was 161 for 584 (.276 avg, .776 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 20 homers, 98 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. Since coming over in a trade (robbery) from the Indians four years ago, Phillips has averaged 82.5 runs scored, 22 homers, 86.3 RBIs and 26.3 stolen bases per season. Phillips is also a very solid defensive 2B for the Reds. He played in 151 games at 2B for the Reds last season and he made 9 errors while showing above average range.

33-year old switch-hitting Aaron Miles will likely be the top backup infielder for the Reds this season. He played in 74 games for the Cubs last season and he was 29 for 157 (.185 avg, .466 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Reds hope that Miles will rebound and hit more to his career norms of a .282 batting average with a .678 OPS. Miles made 2 errors in 35 games at 2B for the Cubs last season while showing good range.

35-year old righty swinging Miguel Cairo will compete with Miles for the top utility job in the infield in 2010. He played in 27 games for the Phillies last season and he was 12 for 45 (.267 avg, .705 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. Cairo played in 5 error-free games at 2B for the Phillies last season while still showing good range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: A

The Cincinnati Reds have acquired 33-year old switch-hitting infielder Aaron Miles and either a player to be named later or cash for 28-year old righty swinging outfielder Willy Taveras and 26-year old righty swinging 3B Adam Rosales. Miles will probably be the Reds’ top infield back-up at 2B, SS and 3B if he has a good spring. Miles played in 74 games for the Cubs last season and he was 29 for 157 (.185 avg, .466 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Miles has now played in 717 games in his major league career and he is 629 for 2,234 (.282 avg, .678 OPS) with 284 runs scored, 16 homers, 175 RBIs and 26 stolen bases.

The Reds are probably doing cartwheels because they got rid of Taveras who was a complete bust in his only year with the Reds. He played in 102 games for the Reds last season and he was 97 for 404 (.240 avg, .559 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 1 homer, 15 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. 26-year old righty swinging 3B Adam Rosales was the player the A’s wanted in this deal. He played in 87 games for the Reds last season and he was 49 for 230 (.213 avg, .620 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 4 homers and 19 RBIs. Rosales played in 105 games in his two years with the Reds and he was 55 for 259 (.212 avg, .605 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 4 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. It was worth trading Rosales to help the Reds rid of Taveras.

The Reds have signed 35-year old righty swinging shortstop Orlando Cabrera to a 1-year, $4 million bucks. Cabrera played in 160 games for the A’s and Twins last season he was 186 for 656 (.284 avg, .705 OPS) with 83 runs scored, 9 homers, 77 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,732 games in his 13 years in the majors and he is 1,818 for 6,618 (.275 avg, .720 OPS) with 882 runs scored, 114 homers, 761 RBIs and 197 stolen bases. This was a great signing for the Reds as Cabrera is a good hitter who has won 2 Gold Gloves in his career. He is a huge upgrade over Paul Janish who will go back to coming off the bench for the Reds in 2010.

Little lefty starting pitcher Fred Norman was lucky enough to pitch for the Reds during the time of the Big Red Machine. He pitched in 231 games (196 starts) in seven years with the Reds and he was 85-64 with 1 save, a 3.43 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. The Reds brought out the best in Norman because he did not pitch too well for anyone else in his major league career. He pitched 9 years for teams other than the Reds working in 172 games (72 starts) in which he was 19-39 with 7 saves, a 4.08 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Norman was a unsung hero for the great Reds’ teams of the 1970’s.

26-year old lefty swinging Joey Votto is probably the Reds’ best hitter so they need him healthy and focused the whole season in 2010. Votto played in 131 games for the Reds last season and he was 151 for 469 (.322 avg, .981 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 25 homers, 84 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Reds are putting a lot of faith in Votto as they don’t really have a back-up for him on the major league roster. Votto needs to improve his defense some as he made 10 errors in 130 games for the Reds at 1B last season.

22-year old lefty swinging 1B Yonder Alonso is one of the Reds’ best prospects and they would likely give him a call if Votto got injured and Alonso was playing well in the minors at that time. Alonso played in 84 games in Rookie+A+AA-ball last season in which he was 86 for 295 (.292 avg, .838 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 9 homers and 52 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: B+