On Baseball | Mets' Graves glad Reds dumped him

By Jim Salisbury

Inquirer Columnist


Danny Graves couldn't have looked happier as he dressed into his New York Mets uniform the other night at Citizens Bank Park.

The 31-year-old reliever was dumped by his longtime team, the Cincinnati Reds, last month. The release wasn't completely undeserved. The righthander had a 7.36 ERA in 20 games and he had allowed 30 hits and 12 walks in 181/3 innings.

Getting released is never a happy time in a player's career, but Graves is thrilled it happened.

"I was one of the lucky ones who got out," he said. "I was fortunate. It was going downhill so badly. I was so glad to get out when I did.

"It's too bad. Cincinnati is a great baseball town. But they've got a lot of problems in that organization. I feel bad for the guys over there. It's got to be miserable for them. They're all loving it for me."

The Reds, who upped their payroll from $46.6 million to $61.8 million in hopes of contending in the National League Central, have had a terrible season. They entered last night with the second-worst record in the NL, hopelessly buried in last place, 16 games out of first place.

The performance cost manager Dave Mileyand pitching coach Don Gullett- who worked a combined 50 years in the Reds organization - their jobs on Tuesday.

Graves was not surprised that Miley got fired. When things go that badly, the manager usually goes. And besides, Graves said, it was well known in the clubhouse that Miley and general manager Dan O'Brien weren't meshing.

Miley, a 26-year veteran of the Reds organization, was the Reds' interim skipper when O'Brien took over in October 2003. O'Brien would have preferred to hire his own man but was overruled by his superiors.

This season, the two reportedly clashed on personnel decisions. For instance, Miley wasn't crazy about playing D'Angelo Jimenezat second base, but the front office had given him a $2.87 million contract in December. Jimenez was designated for assignment last month and is now in double A. Miley preferred Felipe Lopez at shortstop, while the front office favored Rich Aurilia.

"A lot of on-the-field decisions were made upstairs," Graves said. "Why hire a manager? Some of the things that happened, you got the sense, 'This isn't what Dave Miley would do.'

"But it was Miley's first big-league job and he was in a bad situation. He had to do it. If he was Dusty Baker or Tony La Russa, he wouldn't have had to. But he was Dave Miley. He had no choice."

With an extra $15 million in their payroll, the Reds addressed their pitching this winter by re-signing Paul Wilson, trading for arbitration-eligible pitcher Ramon Ortiz, and signing free-agent Eric Milton to a three-year, $25.5 million contract.

Wilson was 1-5 with a 7.77 ERA before going on the disabled list. Ortiz is 3-5 with a 6.22 ERA. Milton, who won 14 games for the Phillies last season, is 3-9 with a 7.70 ERA. He leads the NL in hits allowed with 122 and had given up more homers (27) and earned runs (75) than any other pitcher in the majors.

As a staff, the Reds entered last night with a 5.60 ERA, and they had given up the most hits (781) and homers (109) in the majors. (The Phillies have allowed 101 homers, second most in the majors.) Only Tampa Bay had allowed more runs than Cincinnati, which had given up 425.

"I was surprised they fired the pitching coach," said Graves, who figured in the carnage. "Don Gullett is a great teacher. He got shafted. To me, it's not his fault. He's done what he could with what he had. You're only given so much to work with. In that park it's difficult to dominate."

Milton has given up 15 homers in cozy Great American Ball Park, as opposed to 12 on the road. However, his ERA is actually better at home (5.71) than on the road (10.60).

"I never asked him and he never said it, but I got the sense he might be wishing he went somewhere else," Graves said of Milton. "I'm guessing a lot of guys over there wish they were somewhere else. They're all envious of me."

Graves' big problem in Cincinnati was a major drop in velocity on his fastball. There also was a belief that he was tipping off his pitches to hitters.

Despite all that, he said every NL East team except the Phillies contacted him about signing after he was released. The Phils didn't have good reports on Graves' stuff.

With the Mets, Graves allowed three runs in his first 22/3 innings. Clearly, there's room for improvement, but the way he sees things, it sure beats being in Cincinnati.