The Cleveland Indians knew that Brandon Phillips had an abundance of skills but they gave up on ever seeing that executed at a Major League level.  He was thus traded across the state to Cincinnati, where much to the chagrin of the Tribe, he became the player that he was pegged to be.

In 1939 and 1940, Lonny Frey would have his best seasons and not coincidentally the Reds would make the World Series in both of those years.  One of the best infielders in Reds history, Frey was named an All-Star three times and for five years in a row (1939-43) he finished in the top five in Defensive bWAR, including a first-place finish in 1940. 

Had this been based on the iconography of the Reds, Joe Nuxhall would be top five, but we base our rankings primarily on what is accomplished on the field, which was still pretty good. 

We are going need a history lesson to start off this one.

Will White was a member of the original Cincinnati Reds in the National League and played there for three seasons before Cincinnati was expelled from the NL as their owner refused to stop selling beer.  White would sign with the Detroit Wolverines for a year but returned to Cincinnati when they got a team in the American Association in 1881 (Cincinnati Red Stockings).  That team evolved into the Reds and the original Reds are not part of the canon that is recognized by Major League Baseball, therefore his accomplishments as a Red does not count but as a Red Stocking does.