Rosenthal Talks Griffey
Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tackles Ken Griffey, Jr. and where Reds’ slugger might finish the season. Rosenthal explores all the options. He speculates that the Reds could keep Griffey and collect two draft picks if he leaves as a free agent, but that gets complicated:
However, to gain draft-pick compensation, the Reds would need to decline Griffey’s option, pay him a $4 million buyout and then offer him salary arbitration — a process they almost certainly would prefer to avoid. The Reds could also get the picks if a team signed Griffey before the deadline to offer him arbitration. But such a scenario is unlikely.
Ultimately, Rosenthal concludes that if Griffey requests it, the Reds should do everything in their power to ship Junior to a contender, including eating a chunk of his 2008 salary.
Where could Griffey land? Rosenthal speculates the Rays are an option, though, as he points out the Rays’ biggest need is pitching. The Indians and Blue Jays could be buyers, but they could just as easily be sellers.
The Mets could be an option. They’ve already got Moises Alou and Trot Nixon. Why not corner the market on injury prone outfielders?
Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com. He can be reached here.
Heyman’s Latest: Griffey, Garcia, Sabathia
SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up.
- Ken Griffey Jr. is reportedly telling friends that the Rays are his preference if he is to be traded. He’d be close to his Orlando home, always a major consideration for him. Heyman says Junior would prefer to be dealt after the All-Star game. It’s not known whether the Rays have interest in Griffey, though. Jayson Stark suggested yesterday that Griffey could sign there as a free agent next year.
- Freddy Garcia hit 85 mph in a recent session. It’s been suggested he could be in the Majors by late August.
- Heyman talked to a "hopeful competing GM" who expects C.C. Sabathia to be traded.
Odds and Ends: Gibbons, Skipworth, Viciendo
Let’s catch up with some more links.
- Jay Gibbons took my advice! He’ll join the independent Atlantic League.
- Mark Shapiro is still holding out hope that the Indians can contend.
- The Marlins are close to signing Kyle Skipworth, the sixth overall pick.
- The Phillies released Steve Kline. Might be time to hang it up.
- MLB told teams not to contact Dayan Viciendo until his situation is resolved. The Reds may look into it after that.
- Peter Abraham ponders scenarios for the Yankees to acquire C.C. Sabathia.
Off Topic: The Griffey Ball
Cody Ross‘ recent comments about Ken Griffey Jr.‘s 600th home run ball really irked me. A Marlins season ticket holder, Joe, caught the ball and hasn’t decided what to do yet. Here’s what Ross said:
Just give it to the Hall of Fame, get to meet him, get an autograph, whatever. But people get greedy. They want to make some money. I guess the whole Internet thing kicked all of this stuff off. It didn’t use to be like this, but it’s a different era. People get money hungry now.
This is coming from Cody Ross, a man who will have made over a million dollars for three years of baseball. A guy whose ’09 salary alone should be close to a million bucks. It’s ridiculous for Ross to flippantly suggest Joe would be greedy to make money off the ball.
The ball might be worth anywhere from $15,000 to $100,000. For many people, that’s a life-changing amount of money. A down payment on a new house, maybe. Joe is right to take his time with this choice, and he’s under no moral obligation to give up the ball for some signed Reds bats and jerseys. He doesn’t owe it to baseball to give it up. If anything, baseball owes him. He’s a Marlins season ticket holder.
Actually, that’s the perfect solution. MLB, the Reds, or Griffey himself should offer a paltry $50,000 to Joe for the ball. It’s not going to set MLB back if they offer up fifty grand for every future milestone home run ball. They could probably find corporate sponsorship for it.
No Dunn Talks Yet
C. Trent Rosecrans has the latest on Adam Dunn. He reminds us that Dunn’s no-trade clause switches from all teams to 10 teams on Sunday. GM Walt Jocketty is aware of Dunn’s veto teams, even if the public is not. Ken Rosenthal has suggested that Dunn strategically chose the high-revenue teams (Dunn makes $13-16MM this year).
Despite the upcoming change in Dunn’s no-trade clause, Rosecrans quotes Walt Jocketty as saying "there have been no discussions." Negative on extension talks too, even when Wayne Krivsky was GM.
Dunn, 28, is hitting .240/.406/.531 in 251 plate appearances (in line with his career numbers). It’s been suggested by both Rosecrans and Rosenthal that Dunn would make sense in Boston if David Ortiz has complications. For Jocketty to trade his slugger, he’d need a bounty superior to two ’09 draft picks.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Roberts, Bonds, Dunn
Ken Rosenthal has a new column; let’s discuss.
- Rosenthal notes that many contenders will need relief help come July. We’ve got a list of available relievers here.
- The Brewers are interested in second baseman Brian Roberts. Rosenthal suggests they offer Rickie Weeks for Roberts and another player. Rosenthal notes that the various rumored springtime Cubs offers are now off the table.
- Barry Bonds is not a consideration for Boston even if David Ortiz‘s injury becomes long-term. Rosenthal believes Adam Dunn could be on the radar under that scenario.
Crasnick On Griffey And Dunn
Jerry Crasnick comments today on the Reds new youth movement and what that might mean for Ken Griffey Jr and Adam Dunn.
Crasnick notes that it will be difficult to replace Dunn’s production, but wonders if he just needs a change of scenery. Dunn does not appear to have any desire to enter negotiations on an extension and still seems to be harboring some bad feelings towards the club…Although Crasnick doesn’t specifically speculate, it sounds as if the Reds would be best served trading Dunn.
As for Griffey, Crasnick believes that Griffey might be willing to renegotiate his $16.5MM ’09 option if the team is willing to add a second year on to the deal. However, Crasnick is not sure the Reds are willing to keep Griffey around until he is 40. Crasnick does speculate that even though the Mariners poor start eliminates the possibility of a trade during the season, the M’s may be willing to bring Griffey back in ’09 as a free agent to play first base, especially with Richie Sexson’s contract set to expire.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here .
Draft Day Roundup
The draft is just four hours away. We’ll be live-blogging it here at MLBTR. Here are today’s draft links.
- Baseball America’s brand new top 30 projections.
- According to Keith Law, Mariners doctors gave the thumbs up on Tanner Scheppers and the team could take him at #20.
- Law says the Nationals seem to be debating between Kyle Skipworth and Aaron Crow at #9.
- Law adds that first baseman Yonder Alonso has an $8MM rumored asking price, which could cause him to drop. Alonso is roughly the 11th-best player in the draft, combining various expert rankings.
- Speaking of huge demands, Buster Posey‘s people are floating $12MM. Perhaps for that reason, the Rays will go with Tim Beckham.
- The Pirates seem a near-lock to take Pedro Alvarez at #2.
- Jonathan Mayo is "fairly certain" the Reds will take Gordon Beckham at #7.
- Nick Piecoro tosses out some possibilities for the D’Backs at #26.
- Tom Haudricourt has three names for the Brewers at #16.
Draft Roundup
Tomorrow is draft day! ESPN’s coverage begins at 1pm CST. We’ll live-blog it here at MLBTR, just for the fun of it. Here are today’s draft-related links.
- Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein projects the top 30. Plenty of inside info here.
- Jonathan Mayo has another set of top 30 projections. He’s also got a host of rumors; I’ll let you click over to read them.
- Roto Professor chatted with Baseball America’s Jim Callis.
- Dejan Kovacevic dismisses the idea of the Pirates picking Pedro Alvarez as a P.R./fan-pleasing move. If they pick him, it’ll be for baseball reasons.
- The Reds have their #7 pick narrowed down to four players.
- Baseball America’s John Manuel has all kinds of rumors, and the article is free to read.
Talking Retirement: Smoltz, Trachsel, Mercker
Today we’ve got a trio of pitchers who may be ready to call it quits.
- John Smoltz will have season-ending shoulder surgery. Retirement is not out of the question, but right now he’s got his eye on returning in ’09.
- Jeff Zrebiec talked with Steve Trachsel in spring; he’ll probably retire if the Orioles release him.
- Hal McCoy expects Kent Mercker to hang it up. He’s on the 60-day DL with a sore back.