Monday, December 13, 1999
Bowden: Griffey deal dead - honest
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Doubts over the Reds' withdrawal from trade talks involving Ken Griffey Jr. lingered like Southern California smog. So for the second day in a row, Reds General Manager Jim Bowden cleared the air.
Bowden insisted Sunday that he wasn't using a negotiating ploy against the Seattle Mariners when he announced one day earlier that the Reds would no longer discuss acquiring Griffey, the Cincinnati native and All-Century Team center fielder.
Mariners General Manager Pat Gillick recalled that the Reds rescinded a trade proposal last Monday but resumed discussions two days later. Yet Bowden qualified that pullout at the time by saying he would “maintain dialogue.”
This time, Bowden meant goodbye, not see you later.
“Not true,” Bowden said when told that many observers thought he was still seeking an edge. “I let everyone know we're out of it. There'll be no further discussions. The issue's behind us.”
Bowden repeated that statement when asked what he would do if Gillick approached him with a new, compromise proposal.
“We're going forward with the team we have,” he said, adding that pursuing Griffey if he became a free agent after next season remained an option.
Gillick has maintained that the New York Mets, Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates remain seriously interested in the 10-time All-Star. Brian Goldberg, Griffey's Cincinnati-based agent, said that since Nov. 2, when the Mariners an nounced they would explore trade possibilities, his client had narrowed his list of approved destinations to one: The Reds.
The Mariners are said to believe that they can change Griffey's mind if they receive an acceptable trade proposal. Griffey's tenure gives him veto power over any trade.
“I respect Pat Gillick,” Bowden said. “I respect the fact that he's trying to make the best deal he can for Seattle. I'm sure the way he handled our trade negotiations, he has better offers from many organizations.”
If Bowden was unruffled by the skeptics, so was Pokey Reese, the second baseman the Reds refused to include in any Griffey trade proposal, despite Seattle's demands.
“Having my name in the same sentence of being traded for Ken Griffey Jr. makes me pretty proud,” Reese said. “To get him home to Cincinnati, I would have made the trade.”
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