It was time for both parties to move on. Ken Griffey, Jr. was tired of the Reds. The Reds were tired of Ken Griffey, Jr. It might be OK to stand and watch your mighty drives fly out of the ballpark when you are crushing many mighty drives. It might be OK to lope down to first base on ground balls when you are crushing many mighty drives. It might be OK to give up on catchable fly balls, and then make a classless gesture at a critic, if your team is winning. But the Reds aren’t winning. They never have with Junior.
Here’s the problem with the Reds. It’s not that they traded Junior. They traded him too late. He isn’t just past his prime. He’s way past his prime. And to stay viable, teams like Cincinnati, franchises that won’t indulge in bidding wars, must trade star players before they start to slide, when they’re marketability is at its peak.
That’s what Minnesota has done. The Twins traded Johan Santana when they could still get something for the high-value pitcher. And Minnesota is right on the heels of Griffey’s new team, the Chicago White Sox, in the AL Central. Look at Oakland. Billy Beane has traded pitchers Dan Haren, Rich Harden and Jason Joe Blanton since the end of last season. The A’s are fading this year. But by amassing a wealth of good young players, Beane has put Oakland in position to contend for the next several seasons.
Truth be told, the Reds got little or nothing for Junior. Truth be told, they waited too long.
Truth be told, they’re making the same mistake with Adam Dunn. Had the Reds been pro-active, instead of reactive, they might have received something of value for the Big Donkey a year or so ago. Now, it’s too late. Teams know they can sign Dunn in the off-season, possibly for a reduced rate. The Reds will get next-to-nothing in return.
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Yes, the Twins traded Santana. But he gave the team every chance to re-sign him before the season last year. When they gave him and his agent the stall all during spring training, he said enough. He said he wanted to be traded in the offseason, or he would leave this year in free agency and the Twins would get nothing for him. Thus, the trade.
I just hope that the Reds don’t get into the chasing-their-tale cycle of only developing players and never committing to making a necessary trade to compete for a championship. I think the Twins have made one “let’s fill a hole” trade in the past 5 years to be able to compete — and more often than not have gone through the trade deadline with nothing.
John I agree with you that the Reds hung on to Junior too long. However, right now I’m in favor of keeping Dunn especially with Griffey gone. This will allow another player, possibly Brandon Phillips, to step forward as a leader in the clubhouse and give the team, including Dunn, some much needed energy and enthusiasm. I do think Walt Jocketty has a great opportunity to remake the Reds and turn things around rather quickly because he has 12 players who will be free agents at the end of the season. Take a look at the latest SI. Their poll ask MLB players to rank the top five impact rookies this year includes Volquez (even though he’s not technically a rookie) and Bruce. Cueto was seventh. The future is bright if Jocketty makes the right moves, as he did in St. Louis.
“their marketability is at its peak”
Blanton = Joe, sir.