[Mid-depth_Reporter]

Saw an article in The Sporting News where a writer mentioned Griffey being more valuable to the Reds a trade bait than a center fielder. Very intriguing. Seems possible to me.

Any other thoughts on this?

[Lefty Noob]

Makes sense to me. He's great when healthy, but he's injury prone and unreliable. Not to mention that the team seems to be planning to move Dunn to the outfield and play Hatteberg at first. If they can get a quality pitching prospect for him, I don't see how they couldn't pull the trigger on a deal.

[Mid-depth_Reporter]

Question is then, who needs a centerfielder? I would imagine it would be a team with the need to bring up its sales, as well as upgrade from someone who's already questionable.

[ThePundit]

Too late. The time for the Reds to put him on the market was BEFORE the Yankees signed Johnny Damon and the Sox signed Coco Criso.

You just know Steinbrenner would have ordered that Cashman go get him.

Now the Reds are out of luck.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

I personally would love for him to finish his career in Colorado and make up a few dingers for those he has lost to injuries over the years. The projected Rockies Combo of Cory Sullivan and Choo Freeman would also lend an air of credibility to this trade...and I am sure that at least one of their shell-shocked pitchers would welcome the trade.

[pete_b]

Griffey is the exact kind of player that the Cubs pick up. An old proven vetern that is hurt that has only two or three years left at 60%. Boy when are the Cubs gonna start dishin out some cash. Yes Griffey is still Griffey but he isnt the Barry Bonds potential that he used to be...he has turned into Bobby Bonilla.

[Lefty Noob]

Here's a thought: Griffey for Kerry Wood? I heard a report that the Cubs aren't sure how to use Wood this season. They don't think he can be a starter, and they have two guys ahead of him as a closer, so right now he might chew up some middle innings here and there. So why no deal him to a team desperate for pitching and get a solid bat back in the process?

[Who Dey]

Ken "Grumpy" Jr., what a piece of garbage.
In the summer of 1999 I was obsessed with the Reds. I probably went to 25 or 30 ball games that year. I had an apartment right on the other side and when I got home from work I would take a quick walk across the suspension bridge and check out a team in a pennant race. Lots of fun.
I saw Randy Johnson throw a no hitter and lose.
I saw multiple bottom of the 9th rallies to win, usually sparked by a Sean Casey rope into the gap.
And in my seats right over the center field wall, remember this was river front (the cookie cutter stadium), and saw some of the best center field being played by Mike Cameron.
The bullpen was hot, headed by Danny Graves, rookie of the year Scott williamson, and Gabe White.
My only regret was I was unable to make it to see the one game playoff against the Mets. I still can't stand Al Lighter, the guy pitched lights out that day.
Anyway, what the hell, they won 96 games and had a good young nucleus of players to keep the ball rolling. I was going to have lots of fun watching this team. With a little starting pitching I truly felt the would contend for the Series in 2000.
But nooooo... We had to break up the young nucleus so we could over pay a guy that was past his prime and would spend the majority of his days on the DL.
Good job, that decision really paid off. My favorite part about the whole deal was when people started calling "Grump" out on it and he had the friggn' nerve to be smug about the situation. Refused Interviews with local media, would only deal with ESPN, and then decided playing in Cincinnati was not such a good idea after all.
No s%$@ "Grump!!
Only problem was no one wanted that inflated salary. He was'nt going anywhere by then.
But now the contract is almost up and maybe the Reds will get something for him. Hey, how about Mike Cameron? Can I have Mike Cameron back? and the team that won 96 games?
A#S H*&E!!

[DrCool]

For the right price I would love to see Griffey Jr. come back to Seattle and finish his career. I think he still has a few more 30+ hr seasons left in him and coming back to the American League he could DH once or twice a week to help save his legs. The Mariners could move Jeremy Reed to left field and with Ichiro in right I think that would be an above average outfield.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by Who Dey

Ken "Grumpy" Jr., what a piece of garbage.

I was going to have lots of fun watching this team. With a little starting pitching I truly felt the would contend for the Series in 2000.
But nooooo... We had to break up the young nucleus so we could over pay a guy that was past his prime and would spend the majority of his days on the DL.
Good job, that decision really paid off. My favorite part about the whole deal was when people started calling "Grump" out on it and he had the friggn' nerve to be smug about the situation. Refused Interviews with local media, would only deal with ESPN, and then decided playing in Cincinnati was not such a good idea after all.
No s%$@ "Grump!!
Only problem was no one wanted that inflated salary. He was'nt going anywhere by then.
But now the contract is almost up and maybe the Reds will get something for him. Hey, how about Mike Cameron? Can I have Mike Cameron back? and the team that won 96 games?
A#S H*&E!!

Who Dey, love the spirit man...but how is this Ken Griffey's fault?...I mean did the guy pull out a gun and forced the GM into the deal?...Did he say, "hey look I am about to be injured for a while , but I would still like a great big contract out of you...so break up your young team and I will come on board and destroy the franchise."...hey man, I feel your pain, I like the Reds...but the front office gambled and lost, it ain't Kenny's fault

But just for you man...okay boys and girls raise your hand if you were Ken Griffey, how many of you would have turned down the big contract for the sake of the Reds front office?...anyone?...

good spirited write up man...but come on now was it all Kenny's fault...or is he just a lighting rod for what went wrong?

[Calder]

I would echo the sentiment that the Reds missed out on their chance to deal Griffey to the Yankees or the Red Sox. I honestly don’t feel that the Red Sox would have actual taken Griffey because their bargaining chips in the minors are actually pretty good. Griffey is more than on the down side of his career, and don’t feel he’d command the kind of deal you could have gotten, say, five years ago.

Griffey is one player out there that I root for, and that always wasn’t the case. When he was a young player, he was rather immature. I remember when he pulled a “Michael Jackson” in the direction of Sparky Anderson in Detroit one time, and right then and there I labeled him a jerk.

But the guy has really matured into a nice young man, and I’d love to see him hold on to at least get to 600 HR’s. I was in Cleveland one night when the Reds took on the Indians in an interleague game. He had 498 HR’s, and we were all hoping he’d hit a couple so we could see history. No such luck, but what a thrill whenever he came to bat.

[Who Dey]

Pulled a michael Jackson... what does that mean? If it means packing up and moving to Dubai never to return I'm all for it. C'mon "Grumpy' lets see that "Michael Jackson."

[Zeus104]

Alright, in response to the rant about Griffey being a "grump". I find it funny that such posts happen after Griffey has a stint on the DL, but when he's back and producing, the threads go quiet. Any person who feels that Ken Griffey Jr. is not a good player to build a team around is just crazy. The Reds, in my opinion have the best offensive team in the Major Leagues. Austin Kearns, aside from one season, has never put up fantastic numbers. Felipe Lopez was never going to be a key player on this team. He was never going to play the Barry Larkin role of perrenial captain of the Cinci Reds. The team that is, and is going to be built around is Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo. Those players, right now, are indespensible. People will talk for some time about Griffey's slump after the all star break this season, but there are reasons for why he is slumping right now, most of all is Adam Dunn hitting ahead of Griffey. Right now Dunn is getting the pitches that normally Griffey would be seeing, and also, pitchers are not worried about throwing junk pitches to Griffey.

All of this talk about trading Griffey needs to honestly stop. He has been healthy, honestly for two seasons now. The only reason he went to the DL last year was because the Reds were mathmatically out of any playoff race. What the reds need to do, rather than trade there only real center fielder is to trade one of the three starting catchers they have. The GM of the Reds claims he's willing to spend money? Well, go out and get Greg Maddux or why not Barry Zito. If the Reds could land a Barry Zito or a Greg Maddux, they are guarenteed a playoff spot and i would highly bet on a spot in the World Series. Zito, Arroyo and Harang is a good trio. They may not have the names, but they are good. Harang has been improving every year and is close to leading the NL in wins.

Stop beating up on Griffey and using him as a scapegoat for the past problems of the Reds. Krivsky has a good club now. Not great yet until they land another starter, but good for now. Guardado might be their best aquisition yet this season come september/october. The bullpen was bad. anything was an improvement over what they had even if it cost them two, not great, players.

[Lefty Noob]

Welcome to GoTeamsGo, Zeus. Thanks for joining us. I'm actually a pretty big fan of Juniors, and its a shame that he did get injured so often during his career. If Griffey stayed healthy throughout his career, he would've re-written the record books. But it didn't work out like that. He's still a first ballot Hall of Famer, though. How many years you think he's got left?

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by Zeus104

Alright, in response to the rant about Griffey being a "grump". I find it funny that such posts happen after Griffey has a stint on the DL, but when he's back and producing, the threads go quiet ...

...Stop beating up on Griffey and using him as a scapegoat for the past problems of the Reds. Krivsky has a good club now. Not great yet until they land another starter, but good for now. Guardado might be their best aquisition yet this season come september/october. The bullpen was bad. anything was an improvement over what they had even if it cost them two, not great, players.

Welcome aboard, nice of you to come out bat-a-swinging in Ken's defense there Zeus.

I love the Reds, and Ken as well...but of late he is struggling...look at his 20 dingers this year...He has only 1 or 2 against a decent pitcher...about 18 of them he has hit off of really bad pitchers...and his average is at .241...would love nothing better than for him to have a few more years at Cincy, but his skills seem to have taken a sharp decline.