Sunday, December 12, 1999
Bowden didn't want to repeat Herschel Walker deal
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Instead of spending more time trying to acquire Ken Griffey Jr., the Reds can save money for their next attempt to get him. They can save players, too.
The Reds were willing to risk adding Griffey's $8.5 million salary for 2000 and the chance that he could depart as a free agent after the season. But they weren't willing to surrender certain players to Seattle — first Sean Casey, then Pokey Reese.
Though Rookie of the Year reliever Scott Williamson, right-hander Brett Tomko, promising shortstop Travis Dawkins and other top minor-leaguers such as left-hander Ty Howington might have interested the Mariners, they were said to be lukewarm about any of the outfielders Cincinnati offered, such as Mike Cameron, Dmitri Young and Michael Tucker.
More than a dozen proposals featuring three-, four- and five-player combinations of Reds failed.
“We were a young team that won 96 games. We didn't want to completely break it up,” Reds General Manager Jim Bowden said. Citing examples of NFL trades in which several players were swapped for one, Bowden added: “We did not want to make a Ricky Williams or Herschel Walker type of trade. There were certain players we just were not going to move, because we felt it would be better to wait and see if he did become a free agent and try to pursue him without having to give up players.”
Now, most or all of those players will be on Cincinnati's roster by the end of next season, enhancing the team's attractiveness to Griffey.
“I think if you're going to trade for Ken Griffey Jr., he's going to want to win,” Bowden said. “He's not going to want to come to Cincinnati and help a small-market club finish in fifth place. He's not going to want to be where St.Louis (with Mark McGwire) and the Cubs (with Sammy Sosa) were last year. We think we have a better chance of keeping him long term if we keep our team intact.”
If the Reds lose anything by not obtaining Griffey, it's the chance to test-market him for a summer at Cinergy Field.
“We wanted to see what kind of economic impact he was going to have in Cincinnati,” Bowden said. “We wanted to see if he would have the effect Mark McGwire had in St.Louis. We wanted to see what the revenue would look like ...
“I can't give you the specific revenue number we would have to bring in, but we wouldn't have pursued (the trade) as much as we did if we didn't think it was going to work.” Bowden ridiculed the conclusion many observers quickly reached: That Reese shall forever be remembered as the player who prevented Griffey from joining the Reds.
Said Mariners General Manager Pat Gillick: “How could (the Reds) not (make the trade)? We're talking about the player of the decade (Griffey). An all-century player. A future Hall of Famer. And they're going to let one player hold up the deal?”
“That's not reality,” Bowden said. Careful not to name Reese as the featured object in trade talks, he added. “We couldn't get past the first player to disagree on the other three.”
At the very least, the non-trade heightened Reese's perceived aura. After weathering the Reds' attempts to acquire an established second baseman (Fernando Vina, Tony Womack, Pat Meares) earlier this year, Reese now has become virtually irreplaceable.
The Reds couldn't feel disappointed in retaining him and other valued players.
“I would say that 98 percent of every deal we work on never comes to fruition. So we're used to that,” Bowden said.
But ...
“This case is a little different,” Bowden added. “(Griffey) is one of the best players in the game. He's my personal favorite player. There's not a player I'd rather acquire. But we're not paid for personal thinking. We're paid for professional thinking. We have to make those decisions. It's not rotisserie baseball.”
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