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 .
Rosenthal’s Latest: Sabathia, Griffey, Dunn
The latest from Ken Rosenthal’s Inside Pitch video:
- The Indians are going to have to at least entertain deals for C.C. Sabathia. If they continue to fall in the standings, Rosenthal expects the Indians to try for a Dan Haren type deal involving numerous prospects in return. Two teams he mentions with interest are the Dodgers and Yankees.
- Ken Griffey Jr. will not be traded until after he hits his 600th home run.
- Rosenthal also touches on Adam Dunn. He can block any trade before June 15th. After that he can block trades to ten unknown teams. The Reds are still weighing their options – it is possible they sign him to a long-term deal.
Posted by Shannon McKeown
Bill Bavasi’s Job Secure
Yesterday, Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said the team had no discussions about bringing in a new GM or manager. For now, Bill Bavasi and John McLaren’s jobs are secure despite the team owning the worst record in baseball. John Hickey says Bavasi will explore the trade market but doesn’t expect much. Reds beat writer Hal McCoy again made the point yesterday that Ken Griffey Jr. won’t be dealt.
A summary of Bavasi’s offseason moves:
- Selected R.A. Dickey in the Rule 5 draft.
- Sent Ben Broussard to Texas for Tug Hulett.
- Signed Carlos Silva to a four-year deal.
- Signed Miguel Cairo, Chris Reitsma, Arthur Rhodes, Horacio Ramirez, Greg Norton, and Brad Wilkerson.
- Traded Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Kam Mickolio, and Tony Butler for Erik Bedard.
The much-criticized Silva signing looked fine in April, terrible in May. Bedard’s injury and ineffectiveness couldn’t have been predicted. Jarrod Washburn and Miguel Batista weren’t supposed to be this bad. Aside from a slow start by Kenji Johjima, the hitters have played to expectations.
The player most likely to be traded a month or two from now is Raul Ibanez. He’s earning $5.5MM this year, his last before free agency.
Odds and Ends: Griffey, Baek, German, Wells
Here’s today’s link collection.
- Hal McCoy seems fairly certain that Ken Griffey Jr. will play out the season with the Reds.
- Dejan Kovacevic has heard that the Pirates are torn between Pedro Alvarez and Tim Beckham at #2.
- Cha Seung Baek has been DFA’d, and this time he might be claimed. He could have a career as a fifth starter somewhere.
- John Brattain explains why he feels teams are colluding against Barry Bonds.
- The Rangers DFA’d reliever Franklyn German; Evan Grant explains why.
- The Indians claimed reliever Oneli Perez from the White Sox. Baseball America says the six-fingered pitcher has attitude questions.
- According to Buster Olney, David Wells is still waiting by the phone hoping for a team to call.
- RotoAuthority examines Daniel Cabrera‘s hot start.
Rosenthal’s Latest: Victorino, Hatteberg, Paul Byrd
The Padres stuff got its own post; let’s see what else Ken Rosenthal has for us today.
- Rosenthal thinks it makes sense for the Phillies to shop Shane Victorino for pitching, since Jayson Werth is playing well. That’d increase reliance on Geoff Jenkins, though. The Marlins expressed some interest in Victorino last year.
- Rosenthal expects the Reds to move Scott Hatteberg and a catcher before they get down to the more serious business of mullling offers for Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr.
- Trading Paul Byrd would make sense for the Indians. Rosenthal says the Brewers, Braves, and Astros "likely would show interest." Byrd sports a 3.61 ERA and 4.4 K/BB.
Indians Prefer Infield Acquisition?
Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer believes the Indians’ preference to be to acquire an infielder, if they are to explore the trade market. If so, they might pass on discussing potentially available outfielders such as Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, and Jason Bay. However, Hoynes notes the Indians’ past interest in Dunn.
Hoynes believes the Brian Roberts rumblings could resurface, perhaps a month or two from now. Peter Gammons suggested in April that the Orioles’ decent start might cause Peter Angelos to mandate retention of Roberts.
Some other possibly available infielders: Garrett Atkins, Nick Johnson (perhaps six weeks from now), Aubrey Huff, Mark Grudzielanek, Jose Castillo, Cristian Guzman, Felipe Lopez, Melvin Mora, Chad Tracy, and Mark Ellis (once he recovers from a strained hamstring). It seems easier to acquire an impact outfielder. Regardless, Hoynes believes the Indians would use their starting pitching surplus to engineer a trade.
Odds and Ends: Hanley, Salcedo, Torrealba
Time to round ’em up…
- Rob Neyer guesses B.J. Upton is the next to get a long-term deal from the Rays. Back on April 24th, Jayson Stark wrote that the Upton family "has its own ideas about the market value of both brothers."
- Expect a Hanley Ramirez press conference today, or this weekend at the latest.
- Tribe Report walks us through the Edward Salcedo confusion.
- Yorvit Torrealba‘s agent has filed a grievance against the Mets over their nearly-signed three-year deal.
- Jon Heyman says nothing’s imminent with Ken Griffey Jr. Buster Olney wrote today that the Mariners are "not especially gung-ho" about trading for Junior.
- The Indians DFA’d Jason Tyner.
- A.J. Pierzynski attempts to dispel all those negative stories about his time with the Giants.
Odds And Ends: Rusch, Griffey, Myers, Brewers
A few more notes for your ogling…
- This morning we told you that Glendon Rusch declined his assignment to AAA and chose to become a free agent. Troy E. Renck says that the Rockies are already expressing interest in the lefty.
- Brewers owner Mark Attanasio has given Doug Melvin permission to trade for a starting pitcher noting that there is enough flexibility in the payroll to take on another contract. However, Attanasio also indicated that it was too early to explore those possibilities.
- The Delaware News Journal takes a look at this past offseason’s crop of free agent starting pitchers and how they are performing so far in ’08. They wonder if any of those arms would have been a better option for the Phillies rotation than moving Brett Myers back from the bullpen.
- Doug Harris says that the smart move for the Reds is trading Ken Griffey Jr, noting that if they are waiting for him to hit his 600th home run, they could be in for a long wait.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Jocketty: No Talks To Trade Griffey
In a new twist to the Ken Griffey Jr saga, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Reds may have no interest in trading Griffey. When asked about the subject, GM Walt Jocketty said that he has had no discussions with other teams about trading Griffey and that Griffey does not want to be traded.
"I’ve had no trade discussions," Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said. "I’ve talked with him…Not knowing Junior that well, I wanted to make sure we had a line of communication open. He assured me that he’d like to play here and hopefully win a championship."
Griffey is a "10 and 5" player (10 years exp. and 5 years with current club) and would have to approve any trade.
This seems to contradict recent reports of the Mariners interest in Griffey. Hal McCoy reported that the M’s sent an executive (not a scout) to watch Griffey play last week. And it was later reported that Seattle had no problems with acquiring Griffey’s ’09 option at $16MM with a $4MM buyout. It is hard to imagine the M’s would express this much public interest in Griffey without at least preliminary discussions with the Reds.
Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.
Mariners OK With Griffey’s Salary
According to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, Ken Griffey Jr.‘s remaining $8MM this year and his $16MM option/$4MM buyout next year will not deter the Mariners. The revelation that Junior may not require his ’09 option exercised and the chunk of deferred money could indeed make the money a non-issue.
One question is whether the Reds will treat this as a salary dump or if they’ll want a decent prospect in return. The other is whether Griffey would want to join the last place Mariners.