Brandon Phillips made the comment several times since he signed his contract extension that he wanted to be the best second baseman in Cincinnati Reds’ history before he retired. This was controversial because Joe Morgan, the second baseman of the Big Red Machine, is viewed by many as potentially the best second baseman ever in MLB, alongside Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.
Morgan was an unusual combination of speed and clutch hitting that has never been seen from the keystone position. There was talk of moving Phillips to third so that Eugenio Suarez could play second, but that never materialized because of Phillips assertion that he was a second baseman.