With schools starting up again in a couple of weeks, it is time to take a pop quiz. Which player over the past five and a half years would you rather have had on your team? Name G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA Player A 826 2963 476 752 168 22 129 459 141 34 382 829 .254 Player B 571 1959 329 530 108 6 129 372 11 7 284 421 .271 The obvious answer is Player A as he leads in the majority of the categories. But two players will surprise you. Player A is Mike Cameron; current right fielder for the New York Mets while Player B is Ken Griffey, Jr. They were traded for each other back in February 2000. Junior was traded back to his hometown of Cincinnati as part of a five-player deal in order to bring back the ?Big Red Machine? of the 1970?s. Both players took dramatically different directions after the trade was completed. Cameron was the centerfield of a Seattle Mariners team that won at least 91 games in four consecutive years from 2000-03 including a major league record 116 wins in 2001. He later signed as a free agent with the Mets and missed just a handful of games until last week. His horrifying collision with Carlos Beltran was his first major injury in his career. Junior was the best player during the 1990?s. He dominated the American League, slugging 398 homers for the Mariners and helping them to the playoffs for the first time in team history. In 1999, Junior was well on his way to being the greatest baseball player ever. He was a five-tool ball player and the team leader for the Mariners. Then a funny thing happened on his way to greatness. He became mortal. Junior joined a team that won 96 games in 1999, finishing in second place in the NL Central. The team slipped back to 85 wins in his first season and has yet to finish above .500 since then. He has also been injured too often to mention since the trade. He now has reportedly cleared waivers and the bidding war is on for his services. The Chicago White Sox are the front-runners for his services but they have to be aware that he is not the same player he was several years ago. Plus they already have a washed up player on their roster (Frank Thomas). For all the success he has had, he has played in only 15 postseason games. He has not played in October since 1997 when the Mariners lost in four games in the ALDS. Junior is having the best season since his first season in Cincinnati. He has hit 26 homers and driven in 80 runs thus far. More importantly, he has played in 109 games this year and appears to be healthy again. The Reds have a major decision to make. They can trade their marketing centerpiece to help build the future or they can sell tickets for the rest of the season and seasons to come. The choice is clear-cut. They need to move Junior to the highest bidder and build for the future. Getting a number of prospects back in return for him is a wise decision for a team that is 19 ? games out of first place. But they need to be careful. The last time they went after a marketing centerpiece, it didn?t come as advertised.