The Reds have designated 31-year old righty swinging 1B Andy Phillips for assignment. He refused the assignment and has become a free agent. Phillips played in 56 games for the Mets & Reds last season and he was 18 for 78 (.231 avg, .679 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. He has now played in 259 games in his major league career and he is 139 for 557 (.250 avg, .678 OPS) with 77 runs scored, 14 homers and 70 RBIs. The Reds won’t miss Phillips much in the future.

The Reds have outrighted 25-year old lefty reliever Tyler Pelland to AAA making him a free agent. Pelland pitched in 36 games (0 starts) in AAA last season and he was 1-2 with 1 save, a 4.06 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. Pelland will likely hook on with another team soon as lefty relievers are hard to find.

With free agency now open it’s time for the Reds to get busy. One of the biggest needs for the Reds is finding a shortstop as they can’t depend on Alex Gonzalez who didn’t play at all in 2008. Look for the Reds to take a look at Juan Uribe, Omar Vizquel, Ramon Vazquez, Cesar Izturis and Nick Punto. The Reds could also use a corner outfielder with some power with Juan Rivera, Garret Anderson, Emil Brown and Eric Hinske likely on there short list. The Reds would also like a veteran backup catcher and they likely will consider Paul LoDuca, Gregg Zaun, Michael Barrett, Eliezer Alfonzo and Henry Blanco for that job. The Reds will likely go bargain shopping for help in the bullpen looking at Luis Ayala, Kyle Farnsworth, Bobby Howry, Chan Ho Park, Tyler Walker, Rudy Seanez, Doug Waechter, Mike Timlin, Keith Foulke and Eric Gagne from the right side. Eddie Guardado, Trever Miller and Ray King will be likely targets from the left side.

The Reds have signed 31-year old righty Ben Davis to a minor league contract. Davis will be converting to pitcher from catcher likely starting in AA-ball. Davis played in 44 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 33 for 161 (.205 avg, .561 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 3 homers and 15 RBIs. Davis last played in the majors in 2004 with the Mariners and White Sox. He has played in 486 games in his major league career and he is 358 for 1,512 (.237 avg, .672 OPS) with 168 runs scored, 38 homers and 204 RBIs. It will be interesting to see how well Davis does as a pitcher but he’s a big time longshot to ever pitch in the major leagues.

The Reds have outrighted 26-year old lefty starting pitcher Bobby Livingston to AAA making him a free agent. Livingston was rehabbing in the minors in 2008 and he didn’t pitch at all for the Reds. He pitched in 15 games (all starts) in Rookie+A+AAA ball last season and he was 7-6 with a 4.03 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Livingston was 3-3 with a 5.27 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP in 2007 with the Reds. Some team will take a flier on Livingston because he’s a lefty tossing starting pitcher and there are not a lot of them out there.