Wednesday, July 19, 2000
Bowden calls Griffey trade report 'a lie'
By Chris Haft
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DETROIT — The Reds unanimously agreed that a Fox Sports report saying Ken Griffey Jr. had been offered in a trade proposal to at least one American League team was ridiculous.
“There's no truth to it. It's a lie,” Reds general manager Jim Bowden said Tuesday.
“Maybe they wanted my dad,” Griffey said.
Simple reality undermined the credibility of the story, which was reported by Fox's Kevin Kennedy, the former major-league manager. Kennedy didn't name the team that supposedly fielded Bowden's bid, though heavy speculation arose that it was Boston, one of the clubs Kennedy managed.
Griffey has been directly responsible for the Reds' vast rise in home attendance. Despite his .238 batting average entering Tuesday night's game against Detroit, 15 of his 30 home runs had tied the score or put Cincinnati ahead. Moreover, as Griffey himself pointed out, he automatically would become a free agent at the end of the season if he were swapped. Players traded in the middle of a multiyear contract regain their free agency rights; Griffey signed a nine-year, $116.5 million deal upon being traded to the Reds on Feb.10.
Griffey doesn't have a no-trade clause in his contract. As far as Bowden is concerned, he doesn't need one.
“He has an "untouchable' clause with me,” Bowden said. “That's stronger than a no-trade clause.”
Griffey's agent, Brian Goldberg, said he was told by Reds chief operating officer John Allen and Bowden “how ridiculous and completely false the report was.”
Goldberg added, “I can only hope that the people at Fox who put this misinformation out will spend as much time correcting it.”
Reds manager Jack McKeon said he knew the report was bogus the instant he heard it.
“Kevin Kennedy probably had nothing else to talk about, so he figured this would give him some attention,” McKeon said.
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Bowden calls Griffey trade report 'a lie'
