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