Brandon Phillips : 'Cardinals Are Bitches'

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Before we dissect the Chris Dickerson-for-Jim Edmonds trade with Milwaukee, listen to some quick words from Brandon Phillips before the big, Big, BIG three-game Cincinnati-St. Louis series.

Brandon Phillips fouled a ball off his shin Saturday in Chicago and missed Sunday’s game. But he was in Monday’s lineup and said, “I’d play against these guys with one leg. We have to beat these guys. I hate the Cardinals. All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them, they’re little bitches, all of ‘em.

“I really hate the Cardinals. Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear: I hate the Cardinals.”

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, of course, volleyed things back at Phillips by saying, “We win the right way and we lose the right way. We’ve received a lot of compliments over the years that when we lose we tip our caps and when we win we keep our mouths shut. That’s my comment.”

But he added more: “I don’t think that will go over well in his own clubhouse. Phillips is ripping his teammates — Scott Rolen, Miguel Cairo, Russ Springer, Jim Edmonds — all the ex-Cardinals over there. He isn’t talking about this year. He is talking about the way we’ve always played and those guys are old Cardinals. Tell him he’s ripping his own teammates because they are all old Cardinals.”

More likely, Phillips was talking about a couple of incidents when La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan complained about baseballs in Great American Ball Park being too slick because they weren’t rubbed up properly, or the time they complained about something on pitcher Bronson Arroyo’s hat.

OK, JIM EDMONDS for Chris Dickerson. Why?

“Why the move? We feel that Edmonds will add veteran playoff experience,” Reds GM Walt Jocketty said. “He is a guy who has had a good year with Milwaukee. Actually, we thought about signing him over the winter when he was available, but we didn’t and kind of regretted the fact we didn’t. He didn’t play at all in 2009 and we thought we had enough outfielders, but he showed us he can still play while he was with Milwaukee. You saw him beat us once the last time we were there. He’ll help us in a lot of ways.”

FOLKS WILL QUICKLY say Jocketty is gathering a Cardinals Alumni Chapter in Cincinnati because he has acquired Scott Rolen, Miguel Cairo, Jason Isringhausen and now Jim Edmonds.

Before one makes that an issue, consider that the Cardinals have six former Reds — Jason LaRue, Felipe Lopez, Aaron Miles, Dennys Reyes, Ryan Franklin and Kyle Lohse.

“These are guys who I know and are still good players,” said Jocketty. “They can contribute. Everyone we’ve acquired has done a good job and we think Edmonds will do the same. This is a move to give us a better chance to win now.”

Edmonds is 40 years old and Dickerson is 27, but there is a method to Jocketty’s jockeying.

“Dickerson has been back and forth with us and has had a lot of injuries,” said Jocketty. “We have some younger guys (outfielders Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs, Chris Heisey) who have moved ahead of him. This is something that in the short term is the best fit for us.”

AND DON’T anybody go into apoplexy because the Reds made room for Edmonds by optioning pitcher Travis Wood to Class AAA Louisville. He’ll be back shortly. Because the Reds have off days Thursday and next Monday, Wood was going to be skipped anyway.

“He will go down (Louisville) and make a start there while missing one here, then if all goes well he’ll be back,” said Jocketty. Manager Dusty Baker said Wood’s next start wouldn’t have been until Aug. 18, but now it will be Aug. 19 in Arizona.

“He has pitched terrific, done a great job, but the way the pitching is set up for the next 10 days he wasn’t going to get a start,” said Jocketty.

Edmonds is battling soreness in his Achilles tendon but played 73 games for the Brewers, hitting .286 with eight homers and 20 RBIs. While he was in Monday’s lineup in center field, he isn’t expecting to play every day, nor is Baker planning to use him every day.

Dickerson tore it up on a rehab assignment at Class AAA Louisville, but folks forget that with the Reds this year he was hitting .205 with a .222 on-base average with 19 strikeouts in 44 at-bats.

“Coming right in here to play the Cardinals, it is going to be a little nuts,” said Edmonds. “I’m looking forward to the challenge and I appreciate the respect I have from the guys on this team. I’ve played against them for so many years and this seems like a real good group of guys that is really talented. I’m just coming here to help out with some veteran leadership, play when I can and help the guys try to win.

“My Achilles tendon is still sore, but I’m dealing with it. I’ve talked to Walt about it and both he and Dusty know about it,” Edmonds added. As far as being accepted in Cincinnati, Edmonds said, “As long as it isn’t as bad as it was in Chicago, I’ll be fine. The media killed me there until I hit my first home run.

“I love hitting in this park, love to play here,” he said. “They have great fans and it’s a good city. I don’t care about playing time. I just want to play when I can and help out — whether it’s pinch-hitting or playing every day or playing two days a week. All I care about is playing a little bit and helping out.”

BAKER IS HAPPY to have the extra leadership body and said, “You have to do what you have to do and I think it’s great for Dickerson and it is good for us to get Edmonds. You see how we mix-and-match everybody here — who I think we need that day, whether it’s more of a defensive outfield, offense and defense, right or left, match-ups against pitchers, who is good against righties or lefties, or if one guy hits one pitcher and another guy doesn’t. Nothing is 100 percent, but you go on numbers and how some guys are swinging.

“Like Laynce (Nix),” said Baker. “He is swinging better than anybody we got, except maybe Joey Votto, so that’s why he’s playing (in left field in place of Jonny Gomes). And it gives me some options late in the game - pinch-hitting or better defense.”

On the brink of playing the biggest series in the history of Great American Ball Park, Baker said he wanted his team to just keep playing the way it has and he was asked if he watches for any changes in his team’s approach in a big series like this.

“I know ‘em when I see ‘em. I don’t look for any changes or signs, I just see ‘em,” he said. “I don’t go looking for them until I do see ‘em and I act accordingly. That’s all. I don’t want to create signs. We’re young, but we have a lot of guys who have been through this before. What do I tell ‘em? Nothing. Just play.”

Baker and I agree thoroughly on what this series means.

“Even after this series we have 6 1/2 weeks left and that’s a lot of ball,” he said. “This is just one of two chances (the Reds and Cardinals meeting for the last time in St. Louis in early September) left to do your own business and not depend upon anybody else. After that, we don’t go head-to-head any more. All I know is that this is great for the players, great for the city, great for the organization, great for everybody. Being in the race like this is what I’ve missed the most the last four years.”

ANOTHER ITEM of interest: Aaron Harang.

Harang, on the DL with a bad back, is scheduled for a simulated game tomorrow. Then he plans a mild bullpen workout Friday and hopes to pitch a rehab game over the weekend in the minors.

And if all goes well, he wants to rejoin the team next week on its West Coast trip. One problem needs to be solved, though: Where does he fit? Certainly not in the already filled up starting rotation that already has a waiting list.