Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
May 12, 2008
Griffey and the Mariners

I've seen rumors about Griffey going to the Mariners for about a week, but this is the first time there seemed to be some meat to them:

The Seattle Mariners covet Ken Griffey Jr., want him as much as a loving mother wants to see her children on Mother's Day.

Club President Chuck Armstrong wants the Cincinnati Reds outfielder desperately, wants him to inject excitement into the Mariners and boost attendance, because Armstrong knows Griffey is a deity in the Northwest.

That's why Duane Shaffer, a special assistant to the executive vice president, was in Shea Stadium on Sunday, May 11 -- to check out Griffey.

The Mariners most likely would use Griffey as a designated hitter, something that Griffey has said in the past he wouldn't like to do. And he has said he wants to win a World Series ring before he says goodbye.

Griffey is 38 years old and currently sports a .333 OBA and a .384 slugging percentage. This is not your father's Ken Griffey Jr. Nor is it the kind of number a team wants from a designated hitters. The scary thing is that with Seattle DHs currently hitting .201/.266/.299, Griffey would be a big improvement.

So does the team trade a prospect for Ken, or do they realize that anything can happen in 100 at bats and give Vidro a chance to come out of his slump? Wouldn't it be better to sign Bonds, a player who only costs them money and is likely to hit better than Griffey?


Posted by David Pinto at 07:36 AM | Trades | TrackBack (0)
Comments

It's time to give up the "Sign Bonds" push. it's not happening, although I agree Griffey is a mild upgrade and an expensive one at this point.

Posted by: Tom at May 12, 2008 08:20 AM

Griffey may not want to DH, but based on his play in RF during the Mets series, that's the only thing that will keep him in a lineup after he gets to 600 HR.

As far as the Mariners having to give up anything to get Griffey: the Reds would probably let him go for nearly nothing just to be able to put a better player in the lineup without PR backlash.

Posted by: Steve H at May 12, 2008 08:33 AM

It would have been better to sign Bonds before opening day, but now the Mariners are just a rotting corpse. They proved whatever vague point they were trying to prove to Bonds and the press and Bud, at a cost to their fans and their record.

Several competing teams should look at Bonds. The Mariners should get Griffey if they can get him for nothing (just his pay), to give their fans a reason to go to games.

Posted by: CJ at May 12, 2008 11:01 AM
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