Report: Reds waived Griffey in August

A year after the celebrated trade that brought Ken Griffey Jr. to Cincinnati from Seattle, a Mariners official revealed the center fielder's former team tried to get him back in August.

The Reds, the official told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for Friday's editions, had exposed Griffey to waivers — which allows other teams to claim the rights to a player.

In this case, the waivers were revocable, and the Reds immediately withdrew Griffey's name from the list. This sort of thing isn't uncommon in baseball circles. But this case has a different tint.

The mere suggestion that the Reds would place Griffey on waivers at all — especially after Reds general manager Jim Bowden had vehemently denied a nationally televised report in July that he was shopping Griffey to other teams — can prove unsettling for the player, the team and fans.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the deal, and with spring training beginning Tuesday, it has forced Bowden to answer awkward questions. The Reds certainly don't want their superstar player — who is sensitive, anyway, and endured a sometimes rough homecoming to Cincinnati last year — to feel unwanted.

Bowden neither confirmed nor denied the Seattle report, citing the stiff fine the commissioner's office levies against teams that discuss details of waiver proceedings. Referring to the Mariners official cited in the story, Bowden said bitingly, “I'm sure the Seattle Mariners organization would abide by the rules of Major League Baseball and never leak any information about (the waiver process).”

Bowden declined further comment, except to reiterate his intent to keep Griffey in a Cincinnati uniform: “All I can tell you is that Ken Griffey Jr. is an untouchable and he will finish his career as a Cincinnati Red.”

Reds chief operating officer John Allen would only say, “I'll ditto Jim on that,” and Lee Pelekoudas, Mariners vice president of baseball administration, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Griffey was unavailable for comment, but his agent, Brian Goldberg, said, “I sincerely doubt the Reds had any desire to trade Junior.”

Still, Griffey apparently knew about the Mariners' interest in reacquiring him. The report said he had “casual conversations” with Seattle friends during this offseason about the possibility of returning to the Mariners. Goldberg neither confirmed nor denied such chats occurred.

“As often as I talk to Junior, which is about twice a day in the offseason, numerous times he's told me about conversations he's had with friends and former teammates,” Goldberg said. “But I can't remember each one. Nor would I even divulge confidential conversations between him and friends.”

Bowden and the Mariners organization have had a strained relationship. Trade talks last winter for Griffey were public, and details from each side were often disputed by the other. Publicizing Bowden's placement of Griffey on waivers is certainly a jab at the Reds general manager.

Bowden has had a rough week in the media from other general managers. In Wednesday's Washington Post, in a story about how other teams aren't planning on blocking Bowden's attempts to sign outfielder/football star Deion Sanders, an unnamed American League general manager said he was looking for an opportunity to get even with Bowden for a few unspecified previous incidents. The GM said he wanted something more significant than the Sanders move, though.

That a player of Griffey's stature would be placed on waivers in August isn't by itself uncommon. If a player clears waivers, the team can trade him even after the July 31 trading deadline. If the player is claimed, and the old team OKs it, the new team takes over his existing contract. Even if the old team revokes the waivers, it sees which team might be willing to deal for him in the future.

Occasionally, a team will put all its players on waivers as a smokescreen late in the season, hoping one or two key ones will slip through and can be trade bait. More typically, clubs waive players to release them or clear roster room for other players added to the team. Neither situation has applied to Griffey, an 11-time All-Star, at any juncture in his career.

What was Bowden's motivation in the case of Griffey? His ability at the plate — not to mention at the gate — makes him a tough player to trade. Then again, the team was struggling after winning 96 games in 1999, and Griffey himself was struggling until a late surge left him with a still-subpar .271 batting average, 40 home runs and 118 RBI.

Griffey's $117 million contract — which now looks relatively inexpensive compared with the $252 million former teammate Alex Rodriguez got from Texas this offseason — does not include a no-trade clause. So he can't control which team, if any, can acquire him, as he did when he approved a trade to the Reds last year.

For now, he's staying put, and the Reds say that's where they want him. Waivers or no waivers.

Chris Haft contributed to this report.

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