Tentative Deal Is Made for Griffey

Culminating several months of on-and-off negotiations, the Seattle Mariners agreed Wednesday to trade Ken Griffey Jr., arguably baseball’s best player, to the Cincinnati Reds, pending the Reds’ ability to sign Griffey to a contract extension.

The Mariners, as required by baseball rules, asked the commissioner’s office Wednesday to give the Reds a 72-hour window in which to reach an agreement with Griffey, but that extension is considered a formality given Griffey’s desire to play in Cincinnati.

There was no announcement regarding the players Seattle will receive, but a National League source told The Times that the Reds will give up pitcher Brett Tomko, outfielder Mike Cameron, second-base prospect Antonio Perez and a fourth player out of their farm system.

It is believed that Seattle then will send Tomko, Perez or both to the Angels for Jim Edmonds, who would replace Griffey in center field.

The National League source said that Seattle insisted that both Tomko and Perez be included in the transaction so as to facilitate a trade for Edmonds.

Angel spokesman Tim Mead said late Wednesday night that the club had no announcement scheduled, and Paul Cohen, Edmonds’ agent, said that neither he nor his client had been notified of a trade. However, Edmonds would not be notified until the Seattle-Cincinnati part of it becomes official.

The Angels have long coveted Tomko, who was a disappointing 5-7 with a 4.92 earned-run average last year, and, in fact, recently renewed talks with the Reds about an Edmonds-for-Tomko deal, according to the NL source.

The Reds, however, wanted the Angels to carry some of Edmonds’ salary ($4.65 million in 2000) which the Angels refused to do. Edmonds, who sat out more than half of the 1999 season because of shoulder surgery, is eligible for free agency after this season and has responded to the recent trade speculation involving Seattle by telling friends he would not sign an extension with the Mariners.

Asked about that Wednesday night, Cohen said, “Jim’s attitude has not changed.”

Thus, the Mariners would be renting Edmonds for the year--obviously feeling that beats the alternative of retaining an unhappy Griffey, who is also eligible for free agency at the end of the year. Griffey had asked to be traded to a team that played or trained closer to his Orlando, Fla., home and, after initially giving the Mariners a list of seven teams he would agree to joining, narrowed it to the Reds.

As a player with 10 years in the majors and five with the same team, Griffey had right of approval over any trade and, in his desire to join the Reds, his hometown team growing up in suburban Cincinnati and the team for which his father is the batting coach and, possibly, future manager, is believed willing to take less money than he could demand elsewhere and defer a large portion of his salary until the Reds’ new ballpark opens in two or three years.

The oft-negotiated deal between the Reds and Mariners appeared dead in December when Cincinnati General Manager Jim Bowden announced at the winter meetings that there was no use continuing because he would not break up a young team that had won 96 games and part with either second baseman Pokey Reese, the player Seattle most coveted, or first baseman Sean Casey.

The talks resumed last week when Seattle’s management, concerned about the potential for distraction and dissension if Griffey stayed, urged General Manager Pat Gillick to consummate a trade before the start of spring training, even if it meant accepting a lesser package in return. Griffey, who hit 48 home runs and drove in 134 runs last year, added to the urgency with a lobbying campaign in which he claimed no one in Seattle wanted him to return and that he had received a death threat--which baseball is investigating.

The Mariners, exasperated with Griffey and the overall situation, on Tuesday had given Griffey’s agent, Brian Goldberg, permission to discuss a contract with the Reds, a violation of the rules because a deal was not yet in place. The Mariners are likely to be fined for that, even though they received permission Wednesday for Goldberg to begin talks with the Reds.

“The 72-hour clock is running,” Sandy Alderson, baseball’s executive vice president, said Wednesday night.

A contract agreement could be consummated as early as today, sources said, with the Reds acquiring a future Hall of Fame player without yielding Reese, Casey or relief pitcher Scott Williamson, the NL rookie of the year and a player frequently mentioned in trade talks with the Mariners.

Staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this story.