Well, perhaps not that bad.
Foxsports.com reports the Reds are about to trade Ken Griffey, Jr. to the White Sox if he agrees to the deal (Griffey has ten years in the majors and five with the Reds, giving him the right to deny the trade).
As anticipated as it was to have Griffey back in his hometown, Cincinnati never really loved Griffey, mainly because of Ken’s injuries and the team’s inability to surround him with any quality players. The only season Griffey won with the team? 2000, when the Reds were 85-77, Ken’s only above-.500 season. Junior hit 40 home runs that season, coincidentally his best with Cincinnati.
Injuries limited Griffey to just 206 games between 2002 and 2004. The Reds actually had an agreeement to deal him to San Diego after the ‘04 season (for Phil Nevin) but Griffey denied that trade.
The question now: Will the trade, and his time in Cincinnati, affect what hat he’ll wear in Cooperstown? Seattle seems like the best bet, but Cincinnati is his home town.
In the mean time, we ask: Is it better to play for a mediocre coach like Dusty Baker, or an insane one like Sean Bartel?
Fox is calling this a done deal as of about 10am. Nobody else is… yet. I can’t see why Grif would veto the trade.
I can’t see Grif wearing a Reds hat in Cooperstown. Besides homerun 600 I can’t say that I remember anything about his tenure in Cincy. Besides injury and disappointment. It would be like Pedro going in wearing a Mets cap.
Sad to see it end this way, but I think it was pretty apparent by about 2002 that there wouldn’t be a storybook ending to the Griffey-Reds relationship. He at least gave them a couple of decent seasons at the tail end of things.
The big question I have is…why the hell do the White Sox make this deal? And are they really pinning their World Series hopes on a 38-year old playing effectively in center field? Ken Williams has pulled a lot of the right strings so far in his time on the south side, but this one seems like a heck of a reach to me.
Williams loves Griffey for some reason. He tried to trade for him in ‘05, too.
Troubling part is Ken will play center field most days which, for anyone’s that’s watched his speed go, is a major problem.