Tuesday, February 08, 2000
Griffey: Discussions, but no deal
Money still a stumbling block for Reds
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Though trade talks between the Reds and Seattle Mariners involving Ken Griffey Jr. continue, financial concerns may have struck down at least one potential agreement between the clubs.
Sources familiar with the Griffey saga said Monday that the teams agreed on a deal during the weekend that would bring the All-Century Team center fielder to Cincinnati. However, Reds and industry sources said that the deal's cost may have prompted Carl Lindner, the team's principal owner, to balk when the terms were presented to him.
John Allen, the Reds' chief operating officer, and Jim Bowden, the team's general manager, refused to comment. Brian Goldberg, Griffey's agent, also declined comment.
The Reds have been trying to persuade Seattle to pay the difference between Griffey's 2000 salary of $8.5 million and the wages of the players they would send Seattle, allowing Cincinnati to break even on a deal for this year.
“We talked, but I don't think we were close to anything,” Mariners General Manager Pat Gillick told the Seattle Times. But, said a figure involved in the talks, “That doesn't mean nothing's happening.”
And Seattle's incentive to trade Griffey hasn't diminished. Said an industry insider: “They have to dump him.”
Mariners Chief Executive Officer Howard Lincoln didn't address the tabled deal specifically, but his remarks to reporters at a team luncheon in Seattle confirmed that efforts to trade Griffey remained alive.
“Right now, things are at a delicate stage,” Lincoln said. “Clearly, this is going to get resolved and we think fairly soon ... We're in the middle of a discussion and it could go either way.”
Reds insiders have said that Lindner doesn't want the team to lose money. Griffey's 2000 salary would threaten any profit margin. So would his wages in future years, since he's eligible to become a free agent after this season and easily could double his salary.
But given Griffey's insistence that the Reds are the only team he wants to play for, there's the possibility he would accept less than market value — to sign with Cincinnati.
That “bargain” might not be enough for the Reds. Nearly 14,000 outfield seats, along with millions of dollars of potential revenue, are expected to be gone from Cinergy Field in 2001 and 2002 during construction of the new ballpark due to open in 2003.
Said a Reds official, “The question is, how do you pay him going into the new stadium?”
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