Chris Sabo’s Goggles

Ken Griffey, Jr. is my favorite baseball player. Period. The fact that Griffey ever ended up in a Reds uniform is an achievement in itself.  The Reds will never see a player of Griffey’s caliber walk through their doors again. 

At least not wearing a Reds uniform.

Junior deserves better than the crap factory that’s been on the field in Cincinnati during his tenure with the Reds. That’s why after the buzz has died down from Griffey’s 600th homerun, the Reds should actively look to trade him.

You don’t need to read between the lines of this article to see that Griffey feels the same way.

A lot of people (including me) forget that a lot of Junior’s deal was back-loaded:

“Money had nothing to do with me” leaving, says Griffey, adding he was offered an eight-year, $138 million extension from the Mariners. He wound up signing a nine-year, $116.5 million deal with Cincinnati, deferring $57.5 million in hope that the Reds would be able to build a championship club around him. It never happened.

Those last three words are worth repeating: It never happened

Griffey is in his ninth (!) season with the Reds, and what did they do with that deferred money to make the club better? Sign Eric Milton?

This guy has suffered some catastrophic injuries in a Reds uniform, and every time he has busted his ass to come back and continue to be a pretty damn good player.  Ken Griffey, Jr. at 50% is ten times better than most people on the Cincinnati Reds, and thirty-two times* better than Corey Patterson.

Junior deserves better.  Trade him to a team where he can be the contributing member of a championship caliber team, because it sure as Hell isn’t going to happen in Cincinnati.