Ken Griffey, Jr., traded to White Sox

[Bruce Ciskie]

Ack.

 

Say "Good night", Minnesota.

 

Link. Griffey's a 10-and-5 guy, so he has the right to veto the trade.

[sgtcluels]

http://proxy.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3512365

 

Appears to be pending approval by him.

 

I always like Griffey. At least I could cheer for the Sox then, anything to remind Cub fans they aren't the only good baseball team in Chicago.

[fondybrewfan]

The Sox are not going to have a very good defensive OF, its not like they are good now. Their OF is already crowded, will they play Griffey at 1st or Thome at 1st with Griffey a DH?

 

So what are the Reds going to get for him?

[endaround]

So how does trading for a mediocre hitter with no defense help the White Sox?

[Team Canada]

Good night Minnesota, really? Griffey's not that good anymore Bruce.

[MillerParkSouth]

with Quentin and Dye at the corners, Swisher in CF, Konerko at 1B and Thome at DH, this is a pretty strange move. Not to mention the fact that Griffey simply isn't very good anymore.

[jjfanec]

with Quentin and Dye at the corners, Swisher in CF, Konerko at 1B and Thome at DH, this is a pretty strange move. Not to mention the fact that Griffey simply isn't very good anymore.

Konerko has been terrible this year. He is slugging .349 with an OPS of .661. Griffey's stats though not great are better than that. He is slugging .432 with an OPS .787. It is not a huge upgrade but he can bring something to the team. The question is how much did Chicago give up.

 

[JoeHova]

Griffey has been below average for a corner OF, 1B, or DH this season. He can't play CF anymore, if he does, he's a huge negative for the White Sox, considering that he was the worst defensive CF in baseball 2 years ago and there's no way he's improved with age. The White Sox have received great production out of corner OF and DH this year.

 

If the White Sox play Swisher at 1st and Griffey in CF, they are crippling their defense. If they move Thome to 1st and use Griffey as DH, they are also crippling their defense. Thome has played 4(!) games at first over the last 3 years. He doesn't even play 1st during interleague, despite his bat being much better than Konerko's.

 

I don't really get the move for CWS, but I guess if they don't have to give anything up, they might as well make it. He could be useful as a guy that plays a couple times per week. However, if that's how they plan on using him, I don't know if he'll waive his no-trade rights.

[craigharmann]

Griffey needs to end up in the AL sooner or later. He's not that great in the field, but I think he still wants to play a few more years. He's already in the top 5 of all time homerun hitters (Sosa and Bonds don't count in my book) and I'd like to see him get to 700. That may be tough to do, but I think if he DHs, he could play a few more years.

[JoeHova]

Looks like Griffey did approve it and the Reds got Danny Richar (looks to be a Hernan Iribarren-type but he can play SS) and Nick Masset (looks to be a below-average 25 year old AAA pitcher).

[Invader3K]

Wow...I know Griffey isn't the same player he once was, but this seems really surprising to me.

[snyttri]

Ozzie had just announced that Konerko would be getting rest for a while. Griffey will be a good replacement. The attendance has not been what it should be for a division leader. Adding a HOFer should sell some seats. And there is added entertainment value from Thome and Griffey Jr. moving up the all-time HR lists at the same time.

[JJ Hardy Har Har]

Yeah, Jr. is so washed up that last year he struggled mightely by limping along to a .277/.372/.868 with only 30 homers and 93 RBI in 144 games. He was only 37 then though, so 38 must be a magic number for sucking. Nevermind that he's in middle of a current 12-game hit streak. Somehow I also don't think it matters that he's tied for 4th in the NL among outfielder with 7 assists either.

[JoeHova]

Yeah, Jr. is so washed up that last year he struggled mightely by limping along to a .277/.372/.868 with only 30 homers and 93 RBI in 144 games. He was only 37 then though, so 38 must be a magic number for sucking. Nevermind that he's in middle of a current 12-game hit streak. Somehow I also don't think it matters that he's tied for 4th in the NL among outfielder with 7 assists either.

 

 

he's not necessarily washed up in the sense that he's useless, it's just that Dye, Quentin, Thome and Swisher are all better than him so it's hard to see how he fits in Chicago, especially when you consider that he is an atrocious CF these days and has only played 2 innings at 1st in his career.

[TooLiveBrew]

It's gotta be an OF of Dye-Q-Swish, 1B of Thome & DH of Griffey... right? Otherwise I don't see how this makes sense.

 

 

Also, kudos to Bruce Ciskie, who had the foresight to call this trade back in the summer of '69!

 

"07/31/69 12:17 PM"

[JJ Hardy Har Har]

Yeah, Jr. is so washed up that last year he struggled mightely by limping along to a .277/.372/.868 with only 30 homers and 93 RBI in 144 games. He was only 37 then though, so 38 must be a magic number for sucking. Nevermind that he's in middle of a current 12-game hit streak. Somehow I also don't think it matters that he's tied for 4th in the NL among outfielder with 7 assists either.

 

he's not necessarily washed up in the sense that he's useless, it's just that Dye, Quentin, Thome and Swisher are all better than him so it's hard to see how he fits in Chicago, especially when you consider that he is an atrocious CF these days and has only played 2 innings at 1st in his career.

I agree, I just feel like there's been a little more Jr. bashing going on than necessary. What's up with Swisher though? .230?

 

[TooLiveBrew]

.348/.404/.752 (98 OPS+) -- not what you might expect from Swisher, but not bad at CF... which is where he should be the rest of the way.

 

So far it's been an underwhelming April, horrid May & July, and a ridiculous June for Swisher. I've gotta imagine he's going to start hitting a bit more in Aug.

[rluzinski]

Griffey is an an OK hitter playing at a premium offensive position. And if the fans know what they are talking about, he not even very good in RF very well anymore:

 

If anything, fans are going to overate a former gold glover, like Griffey.

 

That's great that he has a 12 game hitting streak but if you have to use that as evidence of a player being good, he probably isn't. Average at best.

[T B0NE 10]

Griffey seems to have really fallen off this year. Mike Cameron and Griffey are having the same kind of year plus Cameron is a better fielder. I am a huge fan of Griffey, he has been one of my favorite players of all time, especially when I was growing up.

[rluzinski]

http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/sabermetric_moves_of_the_2008_in_season/#66

[Invader3K]

Heard someone on XM radio yesterday make the point that the White Sox GM and Griffey have been friends for a long time. Probably helped in making the trade.

[Brawndo the Thirst Mutilat]

MGL, from that link rluz provided:

 

"Griffey is a replacement player no matter how you look at it. How often does a team make a trade to GET a replacement player?"

 

I think that the Griffey-bashing here has been relatively measured and restrained. Sure, he can still hit a little. Just not enough for a DH. And not necessarily any better than the player he's displacing, Paul Konerko.

 

That's if the White Sox are intelligent enough to know that Griffey is a DH now. If they plan to regularly play him in the OF, this trade is a disaster for them. If they actually let him play CF for more than a few innings, this trade is a lot closer to "good night, White Sox" than "good night, Twins."

[Ennder]

Griffey gives them depth and not much else. Considering the team is playing massively over it's head atm I think this is a nice move for them.

[danzig6767]

Griffey gives them depth and not much else. Considering the team is playing massively over it's head atm I think this is a nice move for them.

How are they massively playing over their heads?

Yea Floyd and Danks are pitching better than Williams would have imagined, but they were the 4th and 9th overall draft picks in their classes, some pitchers take time to put things together. Carlos Quentin is having a huge year, but he put up big numbers in the minors nearly each season. On the flip side i'm sure Williams would have hoped for more from Swisher and Konerko has been absolutely miserable this season.

 

[sgtcluels]

Jr rocks. He's a future hall of famer, yet when traded to the sox.. he turned down Nick Swishers offer for #30 and went with #17 to avoid any kind of distraction. I'd love it if he would be a Brewer, I've always had a hetro man crush on Jr.