Former Mariners CF Ken Griffey Jr. was traded to the
Reds yesterday for four players and agreed to a nine-year,
$116.5M contract with the team, an average of $12.9M per
year, according to Murray Chass of the N.Y. TIMES. Last
year, Griffey "rejected" an offer from the Mariners for
$148M over eight years. Because Griffey's new deal is $2M
less than MLB's highest annual salary, owned by Dodgers P
Kevin Brown, several Reds officials expected the MLBPA "to
be upset with the contract because it was so far below the
market value." But MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr called the
deal "understandable" and said, "What it demonstrates is
that contrary to the beliefs some people have, players don't
always insist on top dollar and other things matter" (N.Y.
TIMES, 2/11). Griffey will receive 57.5% of his salary
"spread out over 16 years of deferred payments," which Reds
COO John Allen called the "secret" to the deal (CINCINNATI
ENQUIRER, 2/11). In DC, Dave Sheinin writes that the
contract "marked a major undertaking by the small-market
Reds," who will move into a new ballpark in 2002. Sheinin
notes that Griffey "helped ease" the financial burden of the
team by accepting the deferred payments, with the last
installment not until 2024 (WASHINGTON POST, 2/11). ESPN's
Peter Gammons: "We hear athletes say it's not about money.
Junior kept saying that, well, he absolutely proved that.
... He took a lot less money to go back to Cincinnati. An
absolute man of his word" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 2/10).
FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME? Pirates GM Cam Bonifay: "It's
good to see a player of his caliber chose a medium market-
type city, when money's not the entire issue." ESPN MLB
analyst Dave Campbell: "There will be grumbling from agents
that [Griffey] undervalued himself, that it's going to hurt
the market. The [MLBPA] will moan. But it's his decision.
It sets the standard right now" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 2/11).
The Reds' Allen: "I think this is a return to fiscal
responsibility in baseball" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 2/11).
Gammons: "I think it does depress [the free-agent market] to
a degree. I think what it does is it sets kind of a good-
feel tone. That players can say, you know, this is a nice
thing to just go someplace where you want to be, be happy,
and live on a $117 million. On the other hand, we've got
the Juan Gonzalez $140 million contract which is going to
escalate the whole market" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 2/10). In
Toronto, Richard Griffin: "The grand old game may have at
last been started toward its eventual salvation. ... Griffey
is the first player to realize that the game cannot afford
to have all of its superstars end up in a select few large-
market cities" (TORONTO STAR, 2/11).
BOX OFFICE DRAW: The trade for Griffey resulted in an
"immediate surge" in Reds ticket sales. The team is
expecting Griffey to be worth about $3-7M alone in ticket
revenue this season (USA TODAY, 2/11). ESPN's Solomon
Wilcots: "The buzz here in Cincinnati is coming from the
Reds phone lines inside of their ticket office. It's been
jammed all day. ... Even the walk-up window has had a steady
flow of traffic ("SportsCenter," 2/10). In Cincinnati, Tim
Sullivan writes that "if the action at the box office and
the congestion on the phone lines Thursday meant anything,
Griffey's impact should be seismic" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER,
2/11). The Phillies reported the sale of an additional 240
tickets for the Reds' only visit to Veterans Stadium May 2-4
(PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 2/11). Clear Channel Cincinnati
Sports Marketing Manager Joe Fredrick, whose company owns
Reds radio carrier WLW, said that his phone "is ringing off
the hook" due to companies wanting to buy ads on Reds
broadcasts (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 2/11).
