Saturday, December 11, 1999Reds 'just don't see' Griffey deal
BY CHRIS HAFT and TIM SULLIVAN
The Cincinnati EnquirerForget Ken Griffey, John Allen says. The Reds can't agree with Seattle's trade demands and they probably can't afford to sign Griffey to a long-term contract.
“I don't think Griffey's coming here,” the Reds Managing Executive said Friday. “We've worked too hard to get the talent we have and (the Mariners') price is too high. ... We would have been silly not to look at it and see what's out there. But our goal is to keep the nucleus of this team intact, and that's what we're doing.”
Reds General Manager Jim Bowden is scheduled to meet this morning with Mariners GM Pat Gillick at baseball's winter meetings in Ana heim, Calif. But neither party has reported progress after a month of negotiations and more than a dozen different proposals. Despite his earlier claim that he was going to Disneyland “for Griffey, not Goofy” — a statement he says was made in jest — Mr. Bowden now appears resigned to returning empty-handed.
“As I've said all along, I'm not optimistic,” Bowden said. “We're not going to break up our young nucleus we worked so hard to put together.”
Seattle's trade proposals have focused on Reds first baseman Sean Casey, second baseman Pokey Reese and relief pitcher Scott Williamson, the National League's Rookie of the Year. Because Griffey is eligible for free agency following the 2000 season, the Reds regard the Mariners' demands as unreasonable.
“I don't know what it would take to sign somebody like that,” Allen said. “But we know what the marketplace is. It's so out of hand. With Kevin Brown making $15 million per year and Shawn Green making $14 million, I just don't see it happening.”
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