Junior Joins The Race

The trade deadline has come and gone, and I'm just happy that there's no O's game today so I could keep track of everything. Let's get started.

The Reds finally dealt their defensively-challenged power-hitting outfielder, but it’s not the one that was expected.

The White Sox got:

Ken Griffey Jr., 38 year-old OF, hitting .245/.355/.432. He’s making $12.5 MM this year with a club option for 2009 at $16.5 MM ($4 MM buyout).

The Reds got:

Danny Richar, 25 year-old 2B, hitting .262/.321/.427 in Triple-A this year.

Nick Massett, 26 year-old RHP, 4.63 ERA in 44.7 IP (mostly relief) with 32 K’s, 21 BB’s, and a 1.70 WHIP. He’s in his second ML season.

The Pale Hose are apparently going to try Griffey in center (the outfield corners are currently occupied by Jermaine Dye and Carlos Quentin). Junior hasn’t played there regularly in a while, and isn’t exactly a Gold Glover in right-field this year. He’s only about a 1 WAR player with the bat, so I don’t see this as a significant upgrade for Chicago. The Reds picked up a couple of cheap players and rid themselves of at least some of Griffey’s contract. Richar, in particular, has some pretty good pop for a second-baseman, though the Reds already have Brandon Phillips entrenched there. At least it gives Griffey another chance to get a World Series.