Sunday insider and 7th-inning stretch

Dat dude the soothsayer?

If you follow Reds All-Star Brandon Phillips on Twitter, you know that the second baseman goes there by "@DatDudeBP." He has more than 100,000 followers because he's very entertaining.

On Monday in Phoenix, Phillips, the Mets' Jose Reyes and Nationals prospect Bryce Harper took part in an event called "Under Armour's Clubhouse Confidential MLB All-Star Chat," during which the trio answered fan questions via Under Armour's Facebook page.

When a fan asked Phillips to name his favorite ballpark, he responded, "New York, I love Citi Field and who knows, maybe one day, I'll be playing next to him," referring to Reyes.

I followed up the next day at the Chase Field home clubhouse, a couple of hours before the All-Star Game, as Reyes and Phillips dressed in lockers next to each other.

"So you'll be a Met someday"? I asked Phillips.

"No," Phillips responded. "I said I wanted to play with Jose, but he's not going back to the Mets!"

Reyes laughed heartily.

It was just two guys having fun. At least, I think it was.

The vanishing vesting option

All of that ink and Web space spent on Francisco Rodriguez's vesting option for 2012, and now it's gone, for the low, low price of $500,000? That's what Milwaukee paid to make the $17.5-million option (vested with 55 games finished) go away, allowing the Brewers to use K-Rod as a closer without any long-term ramifications. The buyout for the option increased from $3.5 million (paid by the Mets) to $4 million.

Rodriguez's switch in agents, from Paul Kinzer to Scott Boras, turned out to be a huge factor. Boras had zero reservations about giving up the vesting option, as commission on that would havegone to Kinzer. Now Boras can shop K-Rod as a free agent this winter and start collecting.

The Brewers, meanwhile, are still looking for a lefty relief pitcher. They like the Mets' Tim Byrdak although they have been concerned by Byrdak's recent downswing.

Pettitte's best call

Andy Pettitte vowed, first to Newsday last September, that his role in the Roger Clemens trial wouldn't impact any decisions about his future. He said the same thing when he retired in February.

However, could Pettitte really have handled pitching for the Yankees with his name being mentioned so prominently? It was prosecutors' mention of Pettitte and his wife, Laura, that led to Judge Reggie Walton declaring a mistrial.

It would've been open season on Pettitte, with the media asking new questions every day. Even if he offered no comment, there nevertheless would've been constant chatter about the situation. And now the retrial could occur this fall, during the postseason.

The Yankees sure could use Pettitte, even now at 39 years old. But it's fair to wonder how much Pettitte's efforts might have been compromised by the Clemens mess.

All-Star Game leftovers

I asked Cliff Lee, who gave up Adrian Gonzalez's solo homer Tuesday night, whether he was following the Yankees and Rangers, the other two teams he seriously considered joining long-term last winter.

"I have a little bit," he said. "All three of the teams that I had choices from are playing well and in a good spot. And that's good, I guess. I guess no matter which way I went, we'd still be high. I'm happy to be a Phillie. I'm glad I'm here. I'm enjoying the experience so far."

Shortstop Manny Machado, the Orioles' first pick (third overall) of last year's amateur draft, started for the U.S. Team in the Futures Game. Last winter, he and fellow Future Game participant Yonder Alonso (a first baseman-outfielder for Cincinnati), worked out in Miami with Alex Rodriguez.

"He has [18] years in the game now, and he's outworking me," Machado said of A-Rod, who is rehabilitating from right knee surgery. "Just to see that, at his age, it's my first year and he's been doing it for [18] years and he's still doing it. I've got to pick my game up."