Brandon Phillips: $72.5M contract a 'slap in the face'

Brandon Phillips appeared in his third All-Star Game on Tuesday. / Scott Rovak, USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Phillips defended his comments from the August issue of Cincinnati Magazine that said he felt his six-year, $72.5 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds was a "slap in the face" and that he'd been lied to by general manager Walt Jocketty and owner Bob Castellini.

"I have nothing to get off my chest. What did I say wrong? Please tell me, what did I say wrong? I want to know what I said wrong. Please tell me. I want everyone to tell me exactly did I say that was so wrong?" Phillips said.

"I haven't paid attention to what people are saying. When someone wants to do a story about you and they want to ask questions, that's what it's all about. It's about people asking questions and you don't back down from any questions and you tell them how you really feel. I don't feel like I said anything wrong, I didn't disrespect nobody, if I did, it's someone in the front office.

The thing is, they know what happened, so I don't understand why everything's a big deal. And fans, I didn't say anything, I love this city, I love Cincinnati, I'm happy to be here, I'm happy with the contract that I got. I'm happy for Joey (Votto). I talked to Joey about it, Joey doesn't really care about what they say. He understands. He respects what I said. I say things other people won't say, that's the type of person I am. What I said. I didn't say anything wrong. If I said something wrong, tell me what I said wrong."

Votto said he understands why Phillips questioned his big contract extension - a 10-year, $225 million deal in 2012.

"Brandon is always totally honest," Votto said. "He's been my teammate for six or seven years now, and I love playing with him. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him.

"What he said has nothing to do with me, but what he had to say makes me like him even more. He's honest. Most players stick to using catch phrases - like I'm doing now - but he will tell you how he feels at that moment."

Phillips was asked if he felt like he was lied to by Jocketty and Castellini.

"Do I feel like they lied to me? If someone tells me they don't have no money and you find $200 million somewhere, what does that sound like? You tell me.

"Tell me, what did I say wrong. It's like this - think about it, if someone said, 'Hey, I'm going to give you a promotion, I'm going to make sure I give it to you.' And the next thing you know, two weeks later they give someone else a promotion, how are you going to feel about it? Would you like that?"

I noted I hadn't been in that position, so it wouldn't be fair for me to speculate how I'd feel about it.

"Exactly. So you have to be in that position and make it happen," Phillips said. "The thing is, when someone said they didn't have any money and then they sign someone else, I'm very happy for Joey, don't get me wrong. I'm happy for everything that happened to Joey. I thought, for myself, I was done. I was mad that I thought I wasn't going to be a Cincinnati Red anymore. If y'all pay attention to everything that I said, everything you got out of that - people are thinking negative about it. It was basically, if you think about it, I was saying I thought I wasn't going to be a Cincinnati Red. That's basically what I was saying. If y'all want to take that to the negative way, be my guest, that doesn't bother me. I love Cincinnati, I love my fans, if you don't like me for what I said, that's really up to you. That doesn't really bother me."

He was asked by someone else if he was worried others who would read the article would see it - and him - in a negative light.

"If you read the article, if people want to see that in a negative way, then obviously you're a negative person," Phillips said. "I just feel like when you look at that article, it's saying nothing but positive things. There's nothing negative about the conversation. There was nothing negative about what I said about anybody, if you want to take it the wrong way, it is what it is."

C. Trent Rosecrans writes for The Cincinnati Enquirer, a Gannett affiliate. Contributing: AP.

Read the original story: Brandon Phillips: $72.5M contract a 'slap in the face'