Long-Retired Ken Griffey Jr. Still Gets Big Chunk of Reds' 2023 Payroll

BY ALLISON BABKA

Many fans bemoan the Cincinnati Reds' payroll regularly being so much lower than that of other MLB teams, but here's the curveball – a guy who hasn't played in nearly 15 years is still collecting a major portion of it in 2023.

According to figures by sports contract database Spotrac, Ken Griffey Jr. has the fourth-highest salary on this season's payroll. Despite retiring from Major League Baseball in 2010, Junior will receive $3,593,750 of the Reds' $82,624,500 projected budget without lifting a bat in uniform at Great American Ball Park. Griffey's salary is behind only contracts for injured first baseman Joey Votto ($25 million adjusted, or more than 35% of the budget), new one-year outfielder Wil Myers ($6 million adjusted) and veteran infielder Mike Moustakas, who the Reds released in January and was picked up for a Colorado Rockies minor-league contract ($22 million adjusted for the remaining year of his contract).

Griffey played 2000-2008 for the Reds but chose in 2016 to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum as a Seattle Mariner, where he'd spent his best playing years. But the Reds are still on the hook for more than $3.5 million due to a nine-year contract in 2000. That year, The Kid's overall contract totaled more than $112.5 million plus a $4 million buyout.

But Griffey agreed to defer some of his big payout – $57.5 million at 4% interest, which would be divvied up and paid annually from 2010 through 2025. That means the 53-year-old former outfielder will remain on the Reds' payroll for a couple more seasons yet.

The combination of Votto's contract, Griffey's deferred salary and team owner Bob Castellini's tight wallet could spell trouble for the Reds. According to Spotrac, the Reds' 2023 projected payroll of $82.6 million is the fifth-lowest in the MLB and well under the league average of $147.837,561.

The Reds' payroll was about $112 million in 2022, about $131 million in 2021, about $57 million in 2020 (largely due to COVID-19), about $132 million in 2019 and about $101 million in 2018. With a big drop in spending, it's been harder for the Reds to make moves and remain in contention. Castellini had said in 2022 that he was interested in cutting payroll and taking on more rookies instead of investing in veteran power.

Ahead of opening day in 2022, frustrated fans raised funds to erect a billboard urging Castellini to sell the team. The Reds proceeded to post their second-ever 100-loss season, ending with a record of 62-100. The losing also kept more fans at home, with the team experiencing its lowest season attendance since 1984; just 1,395,770 people saw the Reds play at Great American Ball Park in 2022, according to attendance records.

Cincinnati last won the National League Central in 2012 and 2010. Before that, the team won the Central in 1995. The Reds haven't won the division or the World Series since 1990.

Meanwhile, Griffey has remained busy, kicking off the MLB Field of Dreams pre-game activities with his father Ken Griffey Sr. in August and coaching Team U.S.A. to a secondplace finish in the World Baseball Classic in March.