Newz Forum: BASEBALL: Devil Rays cut Crime Dog

St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Saturday cut first baseman Fred McGriff, who is just seven home runs shy of 500 for his career.

McGriff, 40, has struggled since Tampa Bay brought him up from Triple-A Durham back on May 28. He is batting just .181 with two homers and seven RBI in 27 games.

Since Tampa Bay has designated him for assignment, the club has 10 days to trade him, outright him to the minors or place him on waivers.

Unless a team picks up the veteran slugger, it is likely that his quest for 500 career home runs will come to an end. McGriff, who is currently tied with Lou Gehrig for 21st place on the career home run list with 493, played with the Rays from their inception in 1998 until a 2001 trade to the Cubs.

A Tampa native, McGriff was attempting to join Ted Williams, Willie McCovey and Eddie Murray -- all Hall-of-Famers -- as the only players to reach the 500 plateau after turning 40.

McGriff, who is a five-time All-Star, has a .284 lifetime average with 2,490 hits and 1,550 RBI.

The 18-year veteran, who started his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, also had stints with San Diego and Atlanta. He endured an injury-plagued season last year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting 13 homers with 40 RBI in just 86 games.

In a corresponding move, the Devil Rays called up outfielder Joey Gathright and infielder Jorge Cantu from Durham. Utilityman Damian Rolls was optioned to Durham.

©2004 The Sports Network

It would be a shame for Mcgriff not to get his 500 homers. I watched him when he was a Blue Jay, and he seemed to be a good guy.

Does seem like hes only playing for the 500 though...but yes it would be a shame if he were to fall short.

I think someone could use him as a deep bench player, like a situational pinch hitter. I haven't seen much of him the past couple years as not too many TB games are televised, but maybe he has lost it. He shouldn't play just to reach 500, but 7 away from such an elite group I couldn't blame him.

It's a bit harsh doing that but i guess if he wasn't doing the job then he had to go.

Anyone think someone will pick him up?

Last year he did fairly well for LA, even leading the team in home runs for a brief few weeks before he was injured for the year...I think he could be an ideal situational hitter but hes definitely not starter quality anymore.

I thought if Carlos Delgado had waived his no trade clause that the Blue Jays might taken him on. In other news, Pat Hentgen loses again and has now been moved to the bullpen.