Sunday, December 12, 1999
Will Griffey wait for Reds?
Agent says superstar had decided not to accept trade anywhere else
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ken Griffey Jr.'s agent says the superstar had recently decided only to accept a trade to the Reds and was disappointed when the Reds dropped out of trade talks Saturday, leaving two big questions for Cincinnati fans who want to see Griffey come home:
• Is Griffey so bent on playing for the Reds that he'll refuse other trades and sign as a free agent after the 2000 season?
• Will Griffey feel spurned by the Reds and look elsewhere? He is said to have been angered that more teams weren't interested in trading for him now.
“I'm disappointed, but he's even more disappointed,” agent Brian Goldberg said after the Reds withdrew from trade talks. “People in Cincinnati should understand that he had a list of a few teams early in the process. But because this has taken so long, his list has shortened recently to wanting to go just to Cincinnati. So if indeed the talks with the Reds are off, I hope that also means the Mariners will stop asking us to accept a trade to places he didn't even want to go to in the first place.”
But the Mariners are still trying to deal Griffey at baseball's winter meetings, and the New York Mets picked up trade talks after the Reds dropped out. The Mets, it's believed, were on his original list of acceptable teams.
Mariners General Manager Pat Gillick said Saturday night he is still talking with four teams about Griffey.
Gillick expressed optimism about discussions with the Mets. But that was before the Mets signed free agent Todd Zeile to an $18 million, three-year deal to take the place of recently-departed first baseman John Olerud. That may reduce the Mets' interest in Griffey.
The Mariners insisted upon second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo from the Mets when they began talks at last month's general managers' meetings. Now, said Gillick, “Maybe we're a little bit more flexible in this situation.”
The Reds gave up after they couldn't get the Mariners to drop their insistence on second baseman Pokey Reese.
“The next time we'll pursue him will be if he becomes a free agent at the end of 2000,” General Manager Jim Bowden said.
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