By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ST. LOUIS - Jose Guillen's acceptance of his demotion to the Reds' fourth outfielder lasted less than 24 hours.

Guillen, out of the lineup in favor of Ken Griffey Jr., Wednesday night says he wants to be traded.

"I want to go somewhere else and do a job," Guillen said. "This situation is not good. Trade me."

Guillen says he expected to be on the bench when Griffey returned. But he thought Griffey wouldn't be starting so soon.

But Reds manager Bob Boone was clear Tuesday that Griffey would start Wednesday or today. He opted to start Griffey Wednesday but doesn't plan on starting him today.

"(Guillen) will be back in there," Boone said.

Boone met in his office with Guillen for about 10 minutes, but Guillen's stance was unchanged.

Guillen, a 26-year-old who began the year in the minors, started 18 straight games before Wednesday. He hit .356 with five home runs and 18 RBI in those games.

But it has always been clear that Griffey would play once he was healthy. The other two outfielders, Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns, are among the major league leaders in home runs.

"I didn't expect it so soon," Guillen said. "(Reds general manager Jim) Bowden told my agent Junior wasn't going to play right away. This is a tricky game. There's nothing I can do about it. Trade me. I'll go somewhere else. I can play every day for a lot of years."

Bowden didn't return a call Wednesday evening.

Guillen's trade value is debatable. Guillen was available to any club when the Reds put him on waivers in March. None picked him up and the Reds re-signed him to a minor league contract. He's been released four times in his career.

Boone understands Guillen's disappointment.

"Guys want to play," he said.

Boone has no rotation set up to get Guillen playing time.

"There's no plan," he said. "I don't envision it as the problem the rest of the world does. I know we're a better team today than we were yesterday."