What is this world coming to? I love this article
Sox should break bank, sell farm for Griffey
August 17, 2005
BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
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Just what is Ken Williams waiting for, anyway, another fantastic voyage on Lake Michigan? Let's hope his minor boating injury isn't distracting him too much because, at the moment, his services never have been more necessary in five seasons as White Sox general manager. Ken Griffey Jr. has cleared waivers and says he wants ''to win,'' which means there's a fair chance he'll be traded to a contender very soon.
Say, today.
This is where Williams, always willing to push the envelope, must stuff it with 88 years worth of perks. He has been sniffing around Griffey for weeks, but when a baseball club hasn't won the World Series since 1917 and is looking at a rare opportunity to end the drought, sniffing around means nothing if you ultimately don't land the final piece. I realize he works for Jerry Reinsdorf, who protects his precious budget like his cigar humidor, but price should be no object when seeking the left-handed power hitter who would answer pressing questions about a sleepy offense as October approaches.
If the Cincinnati Reds want the Sox to assume a fat chunk of roughly $40 million owed Griffey through 2008, then pick up the bill. If the Reds are demanding the inclusion of hotshot outfielder Brian Anderson in the trade, along with two minor-league position players, then include him. Do not worry, Ken, about being snookered on Anderson, who sparked a seventh-inning rally Tuesday night with his first major-league hit and might become a star. Nor should Reinsdorf, who has made a fortune in sports and claims to ''dream'' about winning the Series, be in any sort of cost-conscious mode with so much at stake.
The ground rules are different for Chicago baseball, a futile state where both teams are nearing an entire century without a world-championship parade. A club can't be concerned about next year or the year after when it has a chance to win now. What I've always liked about Williams is his willingness to stare 1917 in the eyeballs, cuss in its face and vow to bring it down forever. ''We are tired of talking about 1917,'' he says. Well, stop quibbling about whatever you're quibbling about and make the Reds an offer that not even their owner, Carl Lindner, can refuse. Knowing Lindner and the way he has operated his small-market franchise, all he wants to do is dump Griffey's contract. If he doesn't find a taker in Reinsdorf, he will somewhere.
Sox need boost for playoffs
Better the Sox than the Yankees.
''We prefer to do something that makes sense,'' Williams said.
Sounds like Jerry-speak to me. And this is not the time for Jerry-speak, not after the Red Sox' boppers pounded Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland in Boston, not as the Oakland Athletics continue to own the Sox and not as the Los Angeles/Anaheim/Mischa Barton Angels look like a better all-around team. When I travel around the nation, I keep my antenna up for Sox chatter. The general conclusion: In terms of being equipped to win the American League pennant, they rank fourth. You might be under the influence of Hawk Harrelson, but for non-homers who analyze baseball at face value, the Sox are vulnerable because their attack lacks punch. Yes, I know leadoff hitter/team MVP Scott Podsednik is out with groin injury. But if a lineup can be devastated by one injury, just how fragile is the bigger cause? The offensive woes have been an issue for some time, and they continued into the wee hours of this morning in a 9-4, 16-inning loss to Minnesota. The Sox have lost 12 of their last 18 home games, not a healthy sign.
Smart Sox fans, the ones who don't waste their lives on the Internet, understand that four terrific months don't win a pennant. As we saw in 2000, a regular season of fine work can be flushed away in three games. Remember that sick feeling in Seattle after the sweep? To avoid it again, Williams has to find a big bat. Among others who've cleared waivers are Mike Sweeney, who seems headed to the Angels, and Mike Piazza, who wouldn't be a good fit here. Sammy Sosa also cleared waivers, but there's a better chance of Harrelson being invited to my next party, even if Metamucil is served as an appetizer. Edgardo Alfonzo could help as a backup to Joe Crede, but he's not going to beat the Red Sox at Fenway Park in the ALCS.
Griffey has the potential to carry a club in the playoffs. And he has the itch, having participated in only two postseasons way back in his Seattle days. As a player with at least 10 years of major-league experience and five with his current club, Griffey has the right to veto a trade. But when asked by Ohio media if he'd like to stay with the Reds, who haven't reached the playoffs during his injury-marred six seasons in his hometown, he said, ''I'd prefer to win.'' He added: ''That's the main reason why you play this game. As a kid, you don't talk about how much money you're going to make as an athlete; you're always talking about that three-balls, two-strikes walk-off home run in the World Series.''
Would he nix a deal? Maybe not. ''If the organization feels they need to make a change with me, then we'll look at it and make up my mind when and if,'' Griffey said.
Whether he would join the Sox is a good question, especially if he isn't promised the center-field job as Aaron Rowand mans the landscape like a young Jim Edmonds. Given a choice of Yankee Stadium or The Cell, where would Griffey have a better chance of performing his fantasy during the next three or four years? Clearly, he doesn't need the Sox as much as the Sox need him. Even before Podsednik's disabled-list stop, the loss of Frank Thomas left the offense short-handed. You're putting extraordinary pressure on Buehrle, Garland, Freddy Garcia and Orlando Hernandez to pitch well in the playoffs if you're scratching out runs.
Any big bat is a good fit
At this point, I wouldn't worry about disturbing team chemistry. Williams, who has done a wonderful job so far in assembling an impending division winner, is too wrapped up in concepts such as destiny when it's still summertime. ''It's important to realize these guys have rallied around one another and have gotten us to the point where we still maintain the best record in the game,'' he said. ''We've got complete faith in these guys here. Whether something materializes from the outside in the next week or so, I don't see it out there. But you never know.''
Exactly. You never know until you try real hard. The Reds continue to strongly deny any interest in trading Griffey, with chief operating officer John Allen saying Monday, ''There's nothing to it! There's no trade talk going on! There's no trade! Where do you guys get this stuff? Who promulgates this story is beyond me.'' And then, of course, he refused to say never.
''If somebody offers us a No. 1 starter and we make a trade, [the media are] going to say I lied,'' Allen said.
Translation: Griffey is available at the right price.
Bid high, Sox.
Jay Mariotti is a regular on ''Around the Horn'' at 4 p.m. on ESPN. Send e-mail to
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