Griffey Jr Traded to the White Sox

[SteelSD]

Well, a "meh" return was what we should have expected for Griffey and that's exactly what we got. Richar is a middling prospect and Masset really has no redeeming qualities. He's fodder.

[Matt700wlw]

I think Crede wears 24....that ain't Tony Perez!

[red-in-la]

Originally Posted by 15fan

Part of me died today.

Thanks and good luck, Junior. You deserved better than you got in Cincinnati. Here's hoping you find it in Chicago or wherever else you end up.

How so? JR was paid 100 million dollars to spend half of his time on the DL. Was it Cincinnati's fault that he wouldn't condition himself properly in the off season?

JR got a ton more than he deserved from the Reds. Not that I blame him for that......it was just an owner and GM that got so taken with the idea of ONE star that they ruined the organization for a decade.....and maybe beyond (we will have to wait and see).

[Reds Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Gainesville Red

I think I read he'll be wearing #17.

I read Nick Swisher gave up his #30 so Junior could go back to wearing 30.

[Gainesville Red]

I'm sure the DL was where he prefered to spend his time.

I've never heard it said that he didn't condition himself properly.

[Razor Shines]

Originally Posted by red-in-la

How so? JR was paid 100 million dollars to spend half of his time on the DL. Was it Cincinnati's fault that he wouldn't condition himself properly in the off season?

JR got a ton more than he deserved from the Reds. Not that I blame him for that......it was just an owner and GM that got so taken with the idea of ONE star that they ruined the organization for a decade.....and maybe beyond (we will have to wait and see).

Originally Posted by redsrule2500

OMG!! Fantastic news!!!! This is huge, and I don't care at all about the return. lol

Griffey just brought 8 years of losing with him from Seattle after our '99 amazing season. Let the new era of Reds baseball begin.

Awww, isn't that cute. I bet you two would be a match on e-harmony.

[RosieRed]

Originally Posted by red-in-la

How so? JR was paid 100 million dollars to spend half of his time on the DL. Was it Cincinnati's fault that he wouldn't condition himself properly in the off season?

JR got a ton more than he deserved from the Reds. Not that I blame him for that......it was just an owner and GM that got so taken with the idea of ONE star that they ruined the organization for a decade.....and maybe beyond (we will have to wait and see).

Find me something that says that's true.

[coachw513]

My trade thoughts:
1. Kenny Williams must really have a love jones with KGJ...I just don't see it as they are talking about him playing CF every day...he must not have seen Griff last Saturday night...but don't insult us about CF being easier to play "because you see the ball off the bat easier and just have to go left and right"...sure, the part about having to cover the most ground, every night having to exert much greater stress to his legs on a daily basis...nah, that doesn't sound too promising for a 38 year old man whose hamstring is essentially stapled to his bone...

2. Now if you stick him in the DH role I think he would be inspired and would come up with a bunch of big hits for the Sox...he actually has hit the ball pretty well this month and the change to a division leader will put a bit of bounce in his step IMHO...

But #1 greatly overshadows #2 for anyone who's watched Griff play lately...I hope I'm wrong but the CF thing seems like russian roulette...

3. For the Reds to get a marginal 2B and a potentially serviceable reliever is somewhat amazing...this deal was a nobrainer, since (as was confirmed by WJ) there was no consideration of exercising the option for next year and as a result we would have gone thru an offseason of getting nothing for Griffey at all, not to mention the bad franchise PR for letting him go (Brett Favre, anyone??)

4. Time for Jay Bruce to begin moving in the knick-knacks to RF...time for the young fella to get settled in for the next decade or so...oh by the way, it's not a reach (or a slap at Bruce) to realize our RF production for the rest of the season may well fall below the production we'd have received with Griffey...that being said, it was time...

5. Recognizing that the memory of Jeff Brantley will fade long before I ever forget enjoying KGJ, I still can't help but be frustrated by the lack of professionalism by Brantley (and yes, in response, Griff)...I'm maybe more bothered that Brantley didn't make it right privately...I mean, are we to infer that Griffey DID NOT CARE TO PLAY BETTER DEFENSE???...I just can't accept that premise...just as I can't accept the premise that the Reds stink because of Griffey and Dunn, instead of the countless rag-arms masquerading as Reds starting pitchers much of this decade...

Some other trade tid-bits:
1. What, no George Sherrill, Brian Fuentes, etc??...where's ole WK around to stimulate the reliever market
2. I still struggle to consider no offensive-challenged club incapable of forcing Jocks hand with regard to Dunn...simply fascinating...
3. (and with all credit to FCB for original thought) The best thing about no Arroyo, Affeldt or Weathers trades is the substantial innings they can absorb protecting the young arms that make up the promising future of a pitching staff
4. Gotta feeling folks feel much worse in Pittsburg right now...no Nady or Bay now...wow, that's got to really suck for them...

[top6]

Originally Posted by redsmetz

Today I absolutely ached for intelligent sports talk. The first thing I heard moments after turning on the radio was that awful faux ad. Then I went over 1530 and they were arguing who was a better Red, Griffey or Rose. Ugh. I'm just down to listening to the Reds on WLW and then I turn off any commercial that Bill Cunningham does. Intelligent sports radio shouldn't be an oxymoron.

I moved here from Chicago a year ago. When your life consists mostly of working and then going home and watching TV, it doesn't really matter what city you live in. But one of the most depressing things is just how much worse the sports talk is - and it's not like it's all that great in Chicago.

(I guess that is more than made up for by LaRosas and Graeters.)

[Cedric]

I wouldn't have minded seeing Weathers/Affeldt traded. I do understand though that someone has to respectfully pitch those innings and protect Edinson/Cueto/Burton.

At times it's easy to call for the full youth movement without realizing it's somewhat a fantasy world. I do think trading Arroyo at this point would be a big mistake. He's at his lowest value since coming to Cincinnati. I'm not going to claim he's suddenly going to win the Cy Young, but I do think he has been unlucky this year and never really got away from that terrible early stretch.

Hopefully he tears it up in August/September and some December dreaming GM pulls the trigger on Bronson. Other than that we can always cross our fingers and pray for a better 09 outcome.

Anyone have his BABIP and linedrive rates for 08 on hand? Most here know I'm not usually one to fawn over BABIP
I don't think I've missed watching one of his starts this year and he just seems unlucky to the naked eye. Hopefully this year is his BABIP outlier and we have some positive hope for 09.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by RosieRed

Find me something that says that's true.

That would require research... and well that ain't happened yet so I wouldn't hold my breath in this instance either.

[Patrick Bateman]

BAPIP: .340
LD%: 25.3% (career 20.9%)
HR/FB: 16%
LOB%: 66.8%

Those would be his more "luck" oriented stats. What makes me skeptical of Arroyo going forward is that basically every single luck stat is going against him. IMO, when that happens, it's likely more than just luck. The rest of his peripherals match up with his career numbers which has given me some hope for him, and that's probably what your seeing too Cedric. I'm a little bit torn on him. I don't think he's deserved all of the unfortunate luck he's had this year, but at the same time I don't think he's the low 4.00 ERA pitcher he was the last 2 seasons either.

[WVRed]

I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of mixing and matching by the White Sox. As much of a slump as Konerko is in, I don't see them benching him every day. I'd say Griffey, Swisher, Thome, and Konerko could be used interchangably as 1B, CF(first two of course), or DH depending on whom Ozzie wanted to rest or play the matchups.

Of course, Griffey could slide over to either OF spot if they wanted to give Dye or Quentin a break. There is a lot of versatility.

[schroomytunes]

I think Jocketty made a wise baseball decision in regards to the best interests of both parties involved. Yeah I'll miss Griffey but he is more of an AL player now, and hopefully he gets his ring this year! On the other hand we faired better than just letting him go after the season for nothing, we get:

1)Masset a young long-reliever spot starter that fills a spot in the pen and allows us some flexibility in the future. Our pen looks like this then in 2009. (Cordero,Burton,Bray,Masset,Majewski,Roenicke)...n eed another lefty and maybe resign Lincoln.

2)Richard gives us middle infield depth and is young with MLB experience, he may allow us to move BP to SS, where he can compete for the second base job or bench player.

3)We save 4 million dollars by moving Griffey, if used correctly that can land you a solid bench player or bullpen arm!

[RosieRed]

Originally Posted by westofyou

That would require research... and well that ain't happened yet so I wouldn't hold my breath in this instance either.

No breath holding here.

Just find it hilarious to say that someone who has come back from as many injuries, and serious ones at that, as he has doesn't condition himself properly. The only way you can come back from a hamstring-screwed-into-your-bone scenario is by being in good shape to start with.