Ken Griffey Jr., Who Hasn't Played Baseball Since 2010, Is The Reds' Third Highest Paid Player This Season

How are things going for the Cincinnati Reds these days?

Well, Ken Griffey Jr. - who retired in 2010 is being paid more than nearly everyone else on the team.

Yes, that's right - the Reds, taking a page out of the Mets and Bobby Bonilla's playbook, are paying Griffey $3.6 million this year - which astounishingly is the THIRD highest payroll on the team.

Honestly, when I first heard the story I chuckled and thought someone had to have made a mistake.

They made a mistake alright - believing in the Reds.

How a $3.6 million player is the third highest on a professional baseball league's roster is just absurd. If I'm a fan - how do you even support an organization like this? Last year, Griffey was the sixth-highest paid player on the team.

Mets owner Steve Cohen - who has a payroll of over $350 million this year probably wipes his you know what with $3.6 million. Seriously.

And the Reds are supposed to be competitors? I'm sorry but this aint a case of some sort of new Moneyball, this is just Reds owner Bob Castellini being downright cheap.

In fact, if you're going to not even try then get out the way. God knows Cincinnati fans deserve better - especially when you look at the other team in the city, the Cincinnati Bengals.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto is the team's highest paid player earning $25 million this year. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)

THE REDS FINISHED 62-100 LAST SEASON

Major League Baseball and Commissioner Rob Manfred want to complain about how baseball is losing out to other sports? Well maybe start in Cincinnati. Why would any young kid gravitate toward baseball when you have a 53-year-old Hall of Famer as your third highest paid player this season?

When I grew up, I used to fight with the other kids for the #23 jersey in everything I did - after the Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly.

There isn't anybody doing that in Cincinnati for any baseball player. The team's highest paid player is first baseman Joey Votto, whose best years are behind him. Last year he hit .205 with just 11 home-runs and 41 RBIs.

Instead? Kids in Cincinnati are all going for #9... named after not a baseball player, but a football player... named Joe Burrow.

On second thought, if I'm the Reds owner I'm calling Griffey today to have him back on the team. Hell, you're paying him anyway. And he proved last week that he can still hit some bombs from the plate, despite being old as hell.