Off Topic · OT: Yankees in pursuit of Byrnes? (page 1)

Who has the ESPN Insider story?

Griffey JR is on the radar to play center field !!!!!!!!!

The Yankees aren't stupid enough to trade for Griffey, given his age, contract, and propensity for injury.

Peter Gammons stated on diamond notes that the Reds would pay half his salary to move him !

Who cares? That's still 25 or 30 million wasted.

It won't happen.

Posted by OngBok:

Griffey JR is on the radar to play center field !!!!!!!!!

I'm all for this.....Griffey seems like he is back on track. His dad was here. He wants to win and he wants the fans back in his corner.

The only problem is where does he hit?

Jeter, Cano, ARod, Sheffield, Griffey?, Matsui, Posada, Giambi, Sierra/Bernie/Tino????

Wow!!!! Who do you pitch to?

Griffey's having an outstanding season. If we don't have to give up much to get him, who cares about his salary? It's not like there's a salary cap in baseball.

if he breaks down that's a whole big chunk of change sitting on your bench...there's also something called the luxury tax in baseball too...George maybe rich, but he's not crazy...if Jason Giambi hadn't bounced back this year, he'd be another killer contract on the Yankee payroll...i highly doubt the Yankees would even think about Griffey unless CIN ate a huge portion of his remaining contract.

Griffey signed with Cincy for a bit of a discount. If they pay half, it's a reasonable (well, for the Yankees, anyway ) contract to take on for a starting CF. Bernie can then move to full time DH.

Amazing, the Yanks need him for his defense more than his bat.

I don't know if Griffey is the answer, but why not try it if you can? I'd rather have the answer come from within, and by that I mean Melky...

don't even factor in Melky for another 2 years...he looked lost in the OF in those few games they gave him as a tryout...he's only 20 years old so another couple years of seasoning won't hurt him.

i'm betting that the Yankees make a run at Johnny Damon in the offseason.

Posted by TMS:

don't even factor in Melky for another 2 years...he looked lost in the OF in those few games they gave him as a tryout...he's only 20 years old so another couple years of seasoning won't hurt him.

i'm betting that the Yankees make a run at Johnny Damon in the offseason.

Did you say Johnny Damon? Hell no...he might be good but he is pure Boston Red Sox.....when you think of him you think of Boston.....no way in hell.

I really wanted Melky to pan out but he looked like a Deer in the headlights out there. I think it's clear that he has the ability but maybe not the gonads to do it as a big league Yank.....yet.

I'm not lobbing for Griffey, but as a Yankee fan I like the fact my team can come in an throw up to 8 homerun threats in a row, not including Bernie, Jeter and Cano!!!! Awesome power!!!

If only the pitching was more stable.....if the Yanks got Griffey there would definately be a major rule change coming to stop the Evil Empire!!!!!

whether you like Damon or not, i still say the Yankees will go after him in the offseason...he can steal bases, he has a high OBP, high BA, scores a ton of runs, plays a steady CF, & is clutch in big games...plus his lefty swing could hit some HR's in YS just like he does at Fenway when he wraps them around that pesky pole...& there's nothing George likes more than to acquire ex-Boston stars & make Red Sux Nation see them succeed in a Yankee uniform.

personally, Torii Hunter would be my ideal CF choice, but the Twins are never going to trade him.

[Edited by - TMS on 07/20/2005 12:43:33]

Posted by Bonn1997:

Griffey's having an outstanding season. If we don't have to give up much to get him, who cares about his salary? It's not like there's a salary cap in baseball.

The Yankees care. If you are unaware, they have a budget, which is why they didn't sign Beltran during the off season. Cashman has said that they want to take the payroll down. Paying Griffey $70+ million over the life his contract (http://russells.freeshell.org/ddollars/team.php?team=reds&name=Reds) is inconsistent with that goal.

More importantly, Griffey is no longer a good defensive CFer. In an OF with Matsui and Sheffield, who are both below average defensively, that would be a disaster.

Bottomline: The trade has zero chance of happening.

Posted by Rich:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Griffey's having an outstanding season. If we don't have to give up much to get him, who cares about his salary? It's not like there's a salary cap in baseball.

The Yankees care. If you are unaware, they have a budget, which is why they didn't sign Beltran during the off season. Cashman has said that they want to take the payroll down. Paying Griffey $70+ million over the life his contract (http://russells.freeshell.org/ddollars/team.php?team=reds&name=Reds) is inconsistent with that goal.

More importantly, Griffey is no longer a good defensive CFer. In an OF with Matsui and Sheffield, who are both below average defensively, that would be a disaster.

Bottomline: The trade has zero chance of happening.

"$57.5 mil in deferred money paid in 2009-2024 - A balloon payment of $16.5 million is due in 2024."

Wow - Didn't know that. It's about 51mm left on the deal (13mm per season, but it looks like a lot of it is deferred) If they were going to pay half the salary, it'll cost the Yankees approx 26mm over the next 4 years (6.5m/yr) That's not an imossible figure for the Yankees, especially with all that deferred money. By the time most of it is due, Yanks will be rolling in $$$ with the new stadium, etc.

Still not sure I would go this route, but the CF trade market is thin, and Melky isn't the answer.

don't forget to factor in the luxury tax into that too...there's no chance the Yankees trade for Griffey unless CIN eats up a HUGE chunk of that remaining money.

While I personally hope the Yankees' bus breaks down-you should understand that they will not be paying any luxury tax-the money that they pay for building a new facillity reduces the tax that they have to pay. That is the reason why George and Fred Wilpon are so willing to pay for new stadia