By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ken Griffey, Jr. during warmups before an August game at Cinergy Field. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Reds general manager Jim Bowden wanted to make it perfectly clear:

"I didn't come to Nashville to trade Ken Griffey Jr.," Bowden said. "I came to Nashville to make the team better."

Which could mean trading Griffey.

On Friday, the first day of the annual winter meetings, the Reds did nothing but talk. They met with three clubs, including the New York Mets - one of the teams that could make a play for Griffey.

"We listen to any proposals," Bowden said. "If someone overwhelms us, we might make a move."

In the wake of the trade that sent second baseman Todd Walker to Boston, the Reds are very close to hitting their payroll number, which will be more than $55 million and could go as high as $60 million.

"That's enough to win," Bowden said. "It's a matter of being creative with the dollars you have."

Trading Griffey would give the Reds more payroll flexibility. Bowden said the proposed Griffey-for-Phil Nevin trade with San Diego, which Nevin nixed with his no-trade clause, would have saved the Reds $55 million over the remaining six years of Griffey's contract.

"That would buy a lot of pitching," Bowden said.

That Griffey has gone from untouchable to on the table is perhaps the biggest news of the winter meetings.

The Chicago White Sox confirmed that the Reds offered Griffey for outfielder Magglio Ordonez several weeks ago, but the White Sox never seriously considered the deal. Ordonez, 28, hit 38 home runs and drove in 135 runs last season.

"We'd rather our trade talks not get out," Bowden said. "But when you're talking about a Hall of Famer like Junior, it's headlines. It should be. When he's healthy, he's one of the top three players in baseball. But we're always open to listening to offers."

The Reds don't have to move Griffey, whom they pay $6 million in salary with another $3 million put aside for deferred payments.

"Don't think we're only talking deals that would reduce payroll," Bowden said. "We're talking about (trading for) players who make $5 million, $6 million."

Bowden said the Reds' payroll will be on par with those of others in the National League Central with a new stadium - Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Houston.

St. Louis and the Chicago Cubs will spend substantially more money on players.

"Our payroll has been $45 million for 10 years," Bowden said. "Other payrolls have gone up. But ours has been steady. It's going to go up dramatically this year. We're excited about that."

Bowden theorizes that the Reds can compete because they've developed young talent.

"Adam Dunn - drafted, signed, developed," he said. "Austin Kearns - drafted, signed, developed. Aaron Boone - drafted, signed, developed. Jason LaRue - drafted, signed, developed. Scott Williamson - drafted, signed, developed. That's five pretty good players. Ten years ago, the only player we had drafted, signed and developed was (Barry Larkin)."

Bowden also said the young pitching the Reds have been talking about for years is close.

He named Bobby Basham, Josh Hall and Ty Howington among others as pitchers who could make the club out of spring training.

"Some of them will probably help us in 2003. If not then, certainly in 2004," he said.

The Reds have made a concerted effort the past few days to put a positive spin on things.

Word that they tried to trade Griffey, followed by the trade of Walker, has fans writing them off two months before spring training starts.

"This team is coming together well," Bowden said. "We all thought at one time that the payroll was going to be $20 million more than it will be. But that's not a Reds issue. That's a baseball issue.

"Atlanta and (the New York) Yankees are looking to shed payroll. It's happened to everyone."

With the Reds, pitching remains a priority. But Walker's departure leaves a hole at second base. The Reds reportedly will get Single-A players Tony Blanco, a third baseman, and Josh Thigpen, a pitcher, as the players to be named for Walker. Blanco once was a top prospect but is coming off a bad season, having hit .222 with 32 RBI in 239 at-bats for Sarasota this year.

So who plays second?

"I can't answer that question," Bowden said. "(Brandon) Larson, (Ranier) Olmedo, Gookie Dawkins, (Juan) Castro, Larkin, Aaron Boone. We also are having some trade discussions."

Bowden is confident the Reds can put together a winner.

"We were 2‡ games out of first on Aug. 12," Bowden said. "Then our season ended. If the general manager had made better trades, it might have been different."

Bowden says winning will bring the fans back.

"That's all they want," he said.

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com