By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Reds general manager Jim Bowden got a call from Ken Griffey Jr. on Saturday. "He told me his son's (Trey) football team went 9-0," Bowden said. "That's pretty exciting. More exciting than the winter meetings."

Trading Junior would spice up the winter meetings quite a bit. But the purpose of Griffey's call wasn't to talk football. It was to assure Bowden that the outfielder isn't disgruntled with the Reds' organization, as ESPN reported.

Griffey wasn't turning cartwheels over the way the Reds handled the proposed Phil Nevin deal, but he isn't demanding a trade.

"He wants to be with the Reds," Bowden said. "He's working out with Barry Larkin and Danny Graves. He said he has something to prove. I told him, 'It's not your fault you haven't been healthy.' It was a good conversation. He doesn't have any issues with us."

That isn't to say that if the Montreal Expos offered right-hander Bartolo Colon or outfielder Vladimir Guerrero for Griffey, the Reds wouldn't pull the trigger. But it would take an offer like that for the Reds to part with Griffey.

"It's our policy that we don't have any untouchables," Bowden said. "We don't give no-trade clauses. But we're not looking to move any of our core players."

That core includes Griffey, first baseman Sean Casey, third baseman Aaron Boone, outfielders Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns, and right-handers Danny Graves and Scott Williamson.

Bowden went on to deny that Casey is being shopped.

"I haven't had one conversation about Sean Casey with another GM," Bowden said. "Not one."

Griffey, Casey and Dunn, as left-handed hitters with power, are ideally suited for playing in Great American Ball Park with its short right-field porch.

The Reds don't have to unload Griffey or Casey simply to meet their payroll budget.

Bowden insists he doesn't have the final budget, but the Reds have made it clear it will be in the $60 million range. That means anywhere from $58 million to $62 million, depending on how the team draws at their new stadium.

Some of the Reds' front-office people came into the winter meetings expecting the budget to be $50 million.

The bigger number put a little pep in everyone's step, particularly Bowden, who was under the impression it would be less than $60 million.

"It's dramatically more than we thought it was going to be," he said.

Given that the Reds play in the National League Central, $60 million is enough to compete. If they were in the American League East with the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, they'd probably be playing for third place.

But in the NL Central, only the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will be substantially above $60 million. The Reds finished 19 games behind the Cardinals last season and 11 games ahead of the Cubs.

"Our payroll is going up 33 percent," Bowden said. "Show me another team in our division that is even going up 5 percent. (Our payroll is) very, very competitive."

The Reds met with the Expos and Colorado Rockies on Saturday.

"We've had a lot of talks," Bowden said. "But until someone says yes, you don't have a deal."

Montreal, a talented team that needs to shed payroll, is the key to these meetings. Guerrero (due $11.5 million), second baseman Jose Vidro ($5.5 million), Colon ($8.25 million) and third baseman Fernando Tatis ($6.25 million) might be moved.

"Everyone's waiting on Montreal," Bowden said. "What they do will affect all the other clubs."

The Expos have two pitchers - Colon and Javier Vazquez - that the Reds and everyone else would love to have. Vidro would make a nice replacement for Todd Walker at second base.

How the Expos shed the payroll is key. They could trade one player or they could trade six to trim the $10 million reportedly mandated by Major League Baseball, which is running the franchise.

"I'd love to keep my pitching," Expos GM Omar Minaya said. "But what I'd love to do and what I do might not be the same thing."

Bowden said the Reds have talked deals big and small. Specifically, they've talked about getting bullpen and middle infield help.

The Reds have two veteran relief pitchers - Gabe White ($3.25 million) and Scott Sullivan ($2.1 million) - whom they could move to trim payroll.

The Philadelphia Phillies might be interested in Sullivan if they don't re-sign Terry Adams.

Still, Bowden conceivably could go home without making a deal.

"There's a chance we won't make a trade," he said. "There's a chance we'll make five trades."

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com