Edmonds Heading North?

Fueling speculation that the Seattle Mariners now feel compelled to trade Ken Griffey Jr., and that he could still be headed to his hometown Cincinnati Reds, sources said Tuesday that the Mariners have had exploratory talks with the Angels about Jim Edmonds as a possible center-field replacement.

Neither the Angels nor Mariners would discuss their talks, but the sources said that Pat Gillick, Seattle’s new general manager, has asked scouts for their evaluations of Edmonds and has mentioned that he expected Griffey to be traded soon.

The New York Daily News reported Tuesday that new talks between the Mariners and Reds had intensified and could lead to a trade by the end of the week.

Both Gillick and General Manager Jim Bowden of the Reds dismissed that possibility.

“I haven’t talked to Pat since Friday, and there is nothing new,” Bowden said. “I still believe, in all likelihood, that we will wait and try to sign Griffey as a free agent when the season ends so that we don’t have to break up the core of a young team that won 96 games.”

Griffey originally had asked the Mariners to trade him to a team that plays or trains closer to his Orlando, Fla., home.

Ultimately, however, he said he would approve a trade--he has that right as a player with 10 years in the majors and five with the same team--only to the Reds.

A winter of heated talks between the Reds and Mariners seemed to have ended Dec. 11 when Bowden announced there was no sense in continuing because he refused to include Cincinnati second baseman Pokey Reese in the deal.

On Friday, however, Bowden said he called Gillick again to see if Seattle’s thinking had changed. Although Bowden and Gillick insisted Tuesday that nothing of substance evolved, sources believe that Gillick is under internal pressure to trade Griffey before spring training so that the center fielder’s status doesn’t become a distraction, even if it means taking a lesser package from the Reds--which would still be superior to compensatory draft choices if Griffey leaves as a free agent.

Meanwhile, Brian Goldberg, Griffey’s agent, said Tuesday he hasn’t imposed a deadline but that he and the Mariners have an understanding that it would benefit everyone if “something happened in the next couple weeks, a decision one way or the other.”

“We’re not pushing for the trade, but you have to give Kenny and anyone else involved a chance to adjust,” he said. “Kenny has also made several commercials and public-service announcements that are scheduled to be released in the next few weeks. The uniform can be doctored, I guess, but there are other aspects of the process significantly affected by a trade. That’s simply a function of modern sports and Kenny’s status as a marketable commodity.”

Still, Goldberg said, Griffey would be comfortable returning for the 2000 season, has been impressed by the Mariner moves and concurs with those who contend that Seattle is probably baseball’s most improved team.

The Mariners have spent about $48 million or a small portion of the long-term money they will save if Griffey and Alex Rodriguez, who is also eligible for free agency at the end of the season, leave. They have signed first baseman John Olerud, starter Aaron Sele, relievers Arthur Rhodes and Kazuhiro Sasaki, Japan’s all-time saves leader, and valuable utility players Mark McLemore and Stan Javier.

With all of that, however, the Mariners will still need a replacement for Griffey if he is traded, and it no longer appears that they are interested in Mike Cameron, or that the Reds would include him in any package.

Sources say they have focused on Montreal’s Rondell White, and Edmonds, who mysteriously remains an Angel despite new General Manager Bill Stoneman’s outfield surplus and critical need for pitching.

Sources now believe Stoneman would agree to a Seattle package of young pitchers headed by John Halama, who was 11-10 in his first full season in a major league rotation. But there is a hitch. Edmonds is also eligible for free agency when the season ends. He recently gave agent Paul Cohen a list of nine teams he would not re-sign with, if he were traded, and eight he would. Seattle was not on either list. Cohen would not comment Tuesday, but sources said they felt certain Edmonds would not re-sign with the Mariners.

Would the Mariners take a one-year gamble on Edmonds? Will they trade Griffey? Burning questions from the still-hot stove.

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Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this story.

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