There's got to be more to this.
The White Sox's Kenny Williams is one of the most bold, creative GMs out there. Is he going to deal Jim Thome somewhere? Is some team actually going to take Paul Konerko off his hands, and then they'll move Thome to first base? They can't possibly play Junior in centerfield.
The two pitchers the Reds reportedly received for Griffey are no great shakes, although you wouldn't expect them to be.
I'll give the edge to the White Sox, just for the shock value, and the anticipation that another move is coming. Meanwhile, I remember attending a Reds news conference in Sarasota in 2000, in which their general manager at the time, Jim Bowden, sat next to Junior and proclaimed, "Baseball is BACK in Cincinnati!" That never happened.
Comments (8)
That's an nteresting trade.
The deadline is a mere 3.5 hours away. Let's hope the Redsox don't move Manny.
Jonah Keri on Kellerman's show moments ago: "The Red Sox are c---blocking the Rays on Jason Bay." Keri claims that the Sox are not going to trade Manny, but they are doing their best to appease Peter Gammons and other Boston-based media, while driving up the price up on Bay to the point where the Rays look elsewhere. Whadduya think, Ken?
I give the edge to the Reds for getting living, breathing carbon-based lifeforms for Griffey, a player way past his due date. He's not totally useless, and his numbers look okay, but he didn't seem to have a lot left when I saw him in Yankee Stadium. And as an outfielder, he's horrid now.
I just don't really see why the Sox even wanted him. They didn't give up anything in return -- a middle reliever and a AAA infielder -- but what's the point?
He literally used the term "c--kblocking" on the radio?
Believe it or not, there was no bleep, baileywalk. However, Kellerman laughed, then hastily called it "clockblocking", since "we are up against the clock."
And now there's a report that the Jays are inquiring about Jason Bay. Even if Boston really is trying to get this deal done, it now appears less likely.
Ken, I know you really dislike Bowden, but could you really blame him? At the time, Griffey was considered the best player in baseball (though I would have taken Albert Belle...well maybe not but Belle was the better hitter). Griffey was supposed to break Aarons HR mark and I think even though Griffey was a supreme dud in Cincinnatti, you cant really blame Bowden for that one. Plus from what I remember reading, the Mariners GM at the time demanded that they start with 11 prospects and ended up getting none of them.
Can't blame Bowden whatsoever, Richie. It was a trade he had to make.
Working on finding out more about Bay...