AP: Griffey could earn $3.9M in 2010

Chemistry: an industry on the (pay) rise.

According to contract figures obtained Monday by The Associated Press, the deal Griffey signed this month to return to the Seattle Mariners for one more season as a 40-year-old calls for a $2.35 million base salary for 2010.

Baseball’s active home run leader would earn $3.9 million if he again has at least 400 plate appearances, Seattle’s attendance tops 2.5 million and Griffey again does not go on the disabled list while remaining on the roster for the entire season.

That’s a higher and more attainable set of bonuses than previously believed.

Griffey earned $3.15 million in 2009 in his return to the team for which he debuted as a teenager in 1989. That included $2 million in base pay plus $1.15 million of a potential $3 million in bonuses.