Griffey, O'Brien and Goldberg: Griffey wasn't almost traded

[CincyRedsFan30]

All parties deny Griffey-to–White Sox trade report

By Hal McCoy

Dayton Daily News

CINCINNATI | Ken Griffey Jr. was not traded. Period. Paragraph. End of story.

A report in USA Today said that Griffey was traded to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, but that Cincinnati Reds CEO Carl Lindner squashed the deal.

The report was denied Wednesday by Reds General Manager Dan O'Brien, Griffey, Brian Goldberg (Griffey's Cincinnati-based agent) and White Sox officials.

"My reaction is short and sweet," said O'Brien. "Throughout July we had no conversations with Griffey or his agent about his 10-and-5 status, and that says it all. We were consistent in indicating we wanted to keep our outfield intact, and that's where it stands."

Griffey said he hadn't heard word one about a trade.

"I heard the White Sox were interested in me, and that's a very good team," said Griffey. "But ... spring training in Tucson?"

For the Reds to trade Griffey anywhere, they need his approval, and Griffey was genuinely surprised when asked if he heard he was traded to the White Sox.

"I hadn't heard that," he said. "I hadn't heard about any kind of trade. But I did think it odd that the front office told Kent Mercker, David Weathers and Adam Dunn they wouldn't be traded, but nobody said anything to me. And nobody asked me or my agent anything about going to any other team."

Griffey has given the Reds a list of, "Three or four teams," to which he would accept a trade and the White Sox are not on that list.

Griffey's agent, Goldberg, was as surprised as Griffey by the report.

"Not anything to it," he said. "Conversations I had with the Reds recently revealed that nothing was up as far as trades other than a couple of inquiries. They told me he was going to remain with the Reds.

"And they never came to us to ask whether Junior would accept a trade," Goldberg added.

Much was made of the fact Griffey wasn't in Sunday's lineup, the day of the trade deadline, "But they told me Friday I wasn't going to play Sunday and I told all my friends and relatives so they wouldn't think I was traded," he said.

Dunn honored

Adam Dunn was named National League Player of the Month for July after hitting 11 homers and driving in 31 runs.

"Can I have your watch?" Griffey asked Dunn, referring to the gold watch award he receives.

"You can have anything I have because I'm a great teammate," Dunn said.

His pitchers certainly love him.

"It is something special, getting rewarded this way," said Dunn, who struggled mightily in May, picked it up in June and turned it on in July. "It was probably a bunch of little things I did differently, nothing major. I just made better contact. And I'm going to get better."

His manager, Jerry Narron, agrees, especially his batting averages. His top average was .266 last year and he is hitting .252 this year. But because of his walks, his on-base average always is high.

"I know his average is going to get better," Narron said. "It is a matter of putting the ball in play more. I was amazed how many times last year he took called third strikes.

"He is at the point in his career where you get better, you level off or you go backward, but he continues to get better," Narron added. "I've told him, 'Compete against yourself to see how good you can be.' "

Edwin's education

After making three errors, striking out twice and grounding into a double play Tuesday, Edwin Encarnacion was not so much worried about being back in the lineup as he was being back in Class AAA Louisville.

But Narron had him in the lineup — after a chat.

"I talked to him about the first year (Hall of Famer) Wade Boggs came to the big leagues and that he wasn't as good a fielder as Edwin is now," Narron said. "I told him how Boggs came to the park at home every day before batting practice and took extra ground balls and made himself good enough to win a couple of Gold Gloves. I told him I'd like to see him do that."

Encarnacion is willing and said, "I'll do that. I'll work hard every day to get better. That's part of my job. I've never had a day like that, ever.

"But (Narron) told me not to worry, that stuff like that happens, it's part of the game."

Added Narron, "Third base is a tough position, and very few guys come to the big leagues as good defensive third basemen. There are very few Scott Rolens in the world. As for Edwin, there is no doubt in my mind he's going to handle it and be an outstanding third baseman.

[Fishercat]

The Yahoo Fantasy Stats reflect the award. He is the #1 ranked player on Yahoo Fantasy Baseball for the last month of stats, based mostly on his runs and RBIs a bit surprisingly.

[redsfan28]

There's more to this rumor. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, White Sox GM Ken Williams still wants to complete the deal, which would be contingent on Griffey clearing waivers (he more than likely would) and Griffey waiving his no-trade clause.

[redsrbetter]

I really think something may have been in the works for sure. Just DanO keeps it from his players in case something does not work out. Then he can deny the whole thing like he is doing now. Maybe it is a good idea to do it that way with Junior though. We all know that he can get emotional at times.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Once again I'm glad the local writers are taking the high road and not paying attention to fallacious rumors started by idiots from low-class newspapers.

Throw the Chicago Sun-Times into the mix now.

This rumor has no validity. Period.

[redsfan28]

So Jay Mariotti and the rest of the columnists/sports staff at the Chicago Sun-Times, one of the more highly thought of papers in the country are low-class?

I believe this rumor a whole heck of a lot more than DanO. It seems the Reds GM job comes with a prerequisite for lying and/or blowing smoke up people's skirts.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Well, O'Brien won't deny the rumor, but he keeps repeating the "don't want to trade outfielder" mantra. Bob Nightengale insists the rumor is true, but unless something happens, I am not counting on it.