It's like there's a party in my mouth - and everyone's invited!Well, Kenny got his man. He wanted Griffey bad, and it only took about SIX YEARS to get him. We trades Massett (I called that one, easy) and Richar (he may be missed if someone in the infield gets hurt), and we got the Reds to eat half his salary. Griffey OK's the deal, and now the fun part is over.
Now what?
We've got an old man - granted, a Cooperstown-bound old man - and nowhere to play him. The obvious gap is in centerfield, but I would sooner play Konerko in center than Griffey, and Swisher already has been covering more ground there than Griffey has in 8 years. RF or LF? The corners are clearly filled with two of our best hitters, Quentin and Dye. Well, what about 1B? We have better options defensively (Swisher, Konerko), and both are less likely to cripple themselves playing there.
So...we're paying over six million for a DH who's over the hill. Last I checked, we HAD one of those in Jim Thome, and unless there's a new "Really Fucking American" League where you can have two DH's, we don't have room for two guys like that.
And now we wonder - what the hell did we get Griffey for? I'm down to three theories:
#1. (Unlikely) Paulie is headed for the DL. Ozzie knows, Kenny knows, and they need to plan accordingly. This deal makes even less sense, considering Anderson could play CF and Swisher could play 1B. Griffey's presence here is meaningless.
#2. (Likely, but stupid) Griffey becomes the left-handed supersub that Rob Mackowiak was supposed to be, complete with sub-par fielding ability. Griffey can still hit for power, and I can easily see Ozzie using him as "rest" player. He plays LF when Quentin rests, RF when Dye rests, and DH when Thome rests. It's not really "starting," but Griffey came over because he wants to win...even if it means he doesn't play every day.
#3. (Absolutely) Brett Favre is coming over as part of a waiver deal in August. Book it.
Now what?
We've got an old man - granted, a Cooperstown-bound old man - and nowhere to play him. The obvious gap is in centerfield, but I would sooner play Konerko in center than Griffey, and Swisher already has been covering more ground there than Griffey has in 8 years. RF or LF? The corners are clearly filled with two of our best hitters, Quentin and Dye. Well, what about 1B? We have better options defensively (Swisher, Konerko), and both are less likely to cripple themselves playing there.
So...we're paying over six million for a DH who's over the hill. Last I checked, we HAD one of those in Jim Thome, and unless there's a new "Really Fucking American" League where you can have two DH's, we don't have room for two guys like that.
And now we wonder - what the hell did we get Griffey for? I'm down to three theories:
#1. (Unlikely) Paulie is headed for the DL. Ozzie knows, Kenny knows, and they need to plan accordingly. This deal makes even less sense, considering Anderson could play CF and Swisher could play 1B. Griffey's presence here is meaningless.
#2. (Likely, but stupid) Griffey becomes the left-handed supersub that Rob Mackowiak was supposed to be, complete with sub-par fielding ability. Griffey can still hit for power, and I can easily see Ozzie using him as "rest" player. He plays LF when Quentin rests, RF when Dye rests, and DH when Thome rests. It's not really "starting," but Griffey came over because he wants to win...even if it means he doesn't play every day.
#3. (Absolutely) Brett Favre is coming over as part of a waiver deal in August. Book it.
2 comments:
Ask yourself this question, and then re-evaluate your opinion of the trade:
Are you hoping to get the same production out of Griffey that the Cubs have gotten out of Edmonds?
I'm expecting less, actually. Edmonds was supposed to be washed up in terms of total ability, not just to be over the hill. Griffey is clearly on the decline, and physically, he's much more of an injury liability than Edmonds.
I'm still on the fence
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