By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ken Griffey Jr. jokes around with Dustin Bingham, 6, while they take a picture together during Redsfest 2002 at The Cincinnati Convention Center. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Redsfest VII was supposed to be the last big fan celebration before the opening of Great American Ball Park. Instead, the event was operating under the dark cloud that has been hanging over the Reds almost since last season ended.

The team's star, Ken Griffey Jr., showed up for a picture session with kids Friday at the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center. (He didn't sign autographs and will not be there today.) But before that, Griffey, the player who was supposed to lead the Reds into GABP, had to answer questions about the Reds' recent attempt to trade him to the San Diego Padres for third baseman Phil Nevin.

The revelation that the Reds would trade Griffey in a clear cost-cutting move shocked a lot of people. But not Griffey.

"I'm here, and that's the thing; I haven't gone anywhere," Griffey said. "It's baseball. Things change from time to time and names get thrown into different situations, and it just happened to be my name this time. It's over."

But it's not. Chief operating officer John Allen confirmed the Reds have been given permission by chief executive officer Carl Lindner to offer Griffey in trades.

"We're not actively shopping (Griffey)," Allen said. "But if someone were to overwhelm us with an offer, we'd consider it."

Allen was booed by at least one fan before Redsfest was an hour old.

The Reds anticipated things weren't going to be hunky-dory with fans so question-and-answer sessions with Allen and general manager Jim Bowden weren't on the schedule - as they have been in the past.

"With all the ... I don't know if negativity is the right word," Allen said. "But there's been so much focus on the budget. That's not what Redsfest is about. It's about fans getting autographs and pictures. It's not about economics."

Unfortunately for the Reds, economics are foremost on the fans' minds.

The Reds are struggling to put together a budget because of an uncertain effect from Major League Baseball's new labor agreement and pressure from commissioner Bud Selig to cut teams' losses. Lindner hasn't given Allen a final payroll number for next season.

Through his office, Lindner declined to comment on the Griffey situation or on the Reds' finances. It isn't known whether Lindner approved the trade with the Padres.

Griffey's agent, Brian Goldberg, doesn't think Lindner would have approved the deal. Asked if he spoke directly with Lindner, Goldberg declined comment.

That is a huge departure from the Reds' recent stance on Griffey, who was always considered an untouchable, and Bowden repeatedly has said Griffey would remain a Red as long as he is general manager.

What has changed?

Baseball economics. The collective bargaining agreement means the Reds, who collected $13 million in revenue sharing in 2001, now could have to pay.

"There will be a $12 (million) to $15 million swing there," Allen said.

The player-payroll budget was about $43 million last season.

"It's definitely going to be higher," Allen said.

But again, because of baseball economics, it won't go high enough to compensate for the annual inflation arbitration brings. The Reds have eight players who are arbitration-eligible. Four - Aaron Boone, Elmer Dessens, Danny Graves and Ryan Dempster - should get huge raises.

Arbitration and raises for players not eligible for arbitration will take the payroll to about $65 million.

But it is believed the Reds will budget between $50 million and $55 million for player payroll next season.

Allen said economics weren't the primary factor in the attempted Griffey-for-Nevin deal.

"We're looking at trades that will make us a better team," Allen said. "Obviously, you can't help but look at the financial part of it. The game has changed in that regard. The dollars are a very significant part of it."

Trading Griffey for Nevin would have saved the Reds $7 million in 2003 and $55 million over the life of Griffey's contract.

If the Reds are to meet a budget of $50 million to $55 million, it would seem they are going to have to trade someone. Will they be forced to shed players as they did last year with Pokey Reese and Dmitri Young?

"That's a tough question," Allen said. "We're looking to improve the team."

The Reds have three players making significant money by baseball standards: Griffey at $12 million, Barry Larkin at $9 million and Sean Casey, who is in the first year of three-year, at $20.2 million deal.

Larkin, who will be 39 on April 28, is in the last year of his contract and is coming off a bad season, so he has little trade value. Casey is recovering from shoulder surgery.

The Cleveland Indians were rumored to be interested in Casey, but they completed a trade for Texas Rangers first-base prospect Travis Hafner on Friday. Indians GM Mark Shapiro said reports of Cleveland being close to obtaining Casey were false.

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com