Just over a week after giving Joey Votto a vault filled with gold doubloons, the Cincinnati Reds have made another huge financial commitment, this time to second baseman Brandon Phillips. From Jim Bowden:

Deal now confirmed....Phillips and Reds 6-years $72.5m congrats both Reds and Phillips

— JIM BOWDEN (@JimBowdenESPNxm) April 10, 2012

Without checking, I'm going to guess that this is the must lucrative day in baseball history for second basemen.

The 30-year-old Phillips has been with the Reds for over six seasons now, hitting .280/.331/.448 for the Reds with 139 steals, two All-Star appearances, and three Gold Gloves. Phillips blossomed in Cincinnati after he was acquired as a reclamation project from the Indians for a player to be named later.

Phillips will be 36 at the end of the deal, so there is some substantial risk involved. But these quite clearly aren't the penny-pinching days of Marge Schott, and that's almost certainly the message the Reds are trying to send.