Breaking News: Cincinnati Reds Reportedly Offer Extension to Brandon Phillips

Reds fans rejoice! Reports are coming in that the Reds have offered their star second baseman a contract extension.There are two differing reports on the deal that was offered.

One report comes from ESPN Radio's Jim Duquette who tweeted that the Reds offered Phillips a four-year extension. Duquette offered no dollar number on that reported contract.

The second report comes from former Reds GM Jim Bowden who tweeted that a Reds source told him the team offered a five-year deal worth somewhere between $62.5 and $65 million.

Reds owner and CEO Bob Castellini told CBSSports.com that he hoped to reach an agreement with Phillips "in the next week or so."

This is huge news for a team who just recently signed star first baseman Joey Votto to a 10-year $225 million dollar deal.

The Reds are obviously beginning to open up their payroll. They're finally starting to spend up toward the $100 million dollar mark and have locked up young studs Joey Votto and Jay Bruce.

The Reds also have Mat Latos, Drew Stubbs, Johnny Cueto, Devin Mesoraco, Aroldis Chapman, Sean Marshall and Zack Cozart under club control for a few more seasons. This, combined with the wealth of talent in the minor league system should provide the Reds with a solid, competitive team for quite some time.

Bob Castellini and Walt Jocketty have made it a very exciting season to be a Reds fan.