It didn't have to be this way. It didn't have to end this way.

Sigh....................

It was Griffey that strong-armed Seattle into his trade to Cincinnati! At the time, it was his "dream to play at home" and he even rejected a trade that would have put him on the NY Mets. And now his dream is to "go back where he started." Come on Griff!

And what championship team wouldn't want an injury-prone .229 hitter at the end of his career!?!

http://sportslocker.blogspot.com/

Come on Griff!

People change a lot in 8 years. I'd bet that if you had a candid conversation with Griffey, he may very well regret how that all went down.

As for his value: sure, he's basically done, but I could totally see him pulling a Will Clark and ending on a tear for someone after a change of scenery.

EVEN TURNED DOWN THE METS YOU SAY???

The Reds were 1 game worse than the Mets the year before. They weren't the 3rd place juggernaut they are now yet.

The Reds were 1 game worse than the Mets the year before.

Actually, they had identical records through 162 games. The Mets beat the Reds in a one-game playoff for the NL wild card.

Does he really think the Mariners are in a position to win a championship?

He hit .277/.372/.496 last year. Evidence that he's "done" is basically nil.

Does he really think the Mariners are in a position to win a championship?

If he's a big Mike & the Mad Dog listener, then yes.

The Reds were 1 game worse than the Mets the year before.

Actually, they had identical records through 162 games. The Mets beat the Reds in a one-game playoff for the NL wild card.

Considering the one-game playoff is part of the regular season, you're both right.

It’s everybody’s dream to go back where they started

I believe this was something Sigmund Freud noted.

Does he really think the Mariners are in a position to win a championship?

If they get some power in their lineup, they might have a chance.

But a gimpy 39-year-old in Safeco ain't power.

Griffey was visibly moved by the warm reception he received last year when the Reds played their first series ever in Seattle. Given his sensitive temperment and occasionally rocky relationship with the Cincy media and fans, it doesn't surprise me at all that he wants to return to the M's. Of course he can't put it in those terms, so he has to couch his desire in the familiar "I just wanna play for a contender" cliche.

I'm really surprised that Griff made it this long in Cincinnati. I figured he'd be out of there in three or four years.

I believe this was something Sigmund Freud noted.

Griffey, A-Rod and Unit are all destined to return to the Safeco Wombdome.

For Johnson, that would be the Olympique Wombdome.

From the sidebar to that story:

The Cincinnati Reds' Dusty Baker will become part of history when Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 600th home run as the first to manage three 600-home run hitters: Barry Bonds (762) with the San Francisco Giants, Sammy Sosa (609) with the Chicago Cubs and Griffey (597)."I'm a blessed man," Baker says. "Those guys are all great hitters but different. . ."

. . . Most prepared? Sosa. "He prepared longer and harder than people realized," Baker says. "Barry (Bonds) would prepare, but he just wouldn't let you see him prepare."

Gee, I wonder why?

As an A's fan, I hope the M's maintian their dogged loyalty to the Jose Vidro Experience with the occasional star turn for Willie Ballgame.

As a baseball fan, I'd love to see Griffey back in Seattle for a farewell tour. He should have been there his entire career, ideally.

People change a lot in 8 years. I'd bet that if you had a candid conversation with Griffey, he may very well regret how that all went down.

Sure. This happens a lot and, in fact, leads to the saying about green grass and fences. I know people who make the ultimately incorrect decision to leave a good job for one they think is better. The thing is, in a 40 year career, you have time to reverse course. In a short career (and Junior's has been a lot longer than most), that one decision can effectively end the possibility of a storybook career. The guy may still be a star and make lots of money, but how many players, in all professional sports, have ended up less than happy after chasing a ring, or money, or something else by changing teams?

I didn't read the article, but am I the only one who thinks that Griffey's perspective is a bit entitled?

As an A's fan, I hope the M's maintian their dogged loyalty to the Jose Vidro Experience with the occasional star turn for Willie Ballgame.

As a baseball fan, I'd love to see Griffey back in Seattle for a farewell tour. He should have been there his entire career, ideally.

As an A's fan, I hope that Seattle is dumb enough to trade for Griffey, or better if you're an A's fan / worse if you're a Mariners fan, dumb enough to trade a worthwhile prospect for Griffey.

He's yet another awful defensive player, 1b / dh type, on a club that already has 2 of those playing the field, Sexson and Ibanez. Ibanez at this point is a better hitter than Griffey. Griffey's OPS+ last 3 seasons, including this season, 99, 119, 76. He will cost $16.5M, with prospects added to that. They're probably better off signing Kenny Lofton and moving Ibanez to DH.

I just assume a trade for Griffey mean a spot on the bech for Vidro, which would improve the Mariners in the short term. Would Bavasi really give up anything of quality for Griff? He's not that goofy, is he?

I didn't read the article, but am I the only one who thinks that Griffey's perspective is a bit entitled?

Yea, but he's entitled to it.

Seriously, "we" allow every great player in any sport towards the end of his career to get to choose whom he plays for, especially if he chooses to play either (a) closer to home or (b) somewhere he can win a championship.

Would Bavasi really give up anything of quality for ______? He's not that goofy, is he?

Yes. Yes.

“It’s everybody’s dream to go back where they started”

Alas, Bellingham no longer has a NWL franchise. You can't go home again, Junior...

Griffey's days in Cincinnati may be numbered

Does that mean the handwriting is on the wall?

M...M...T...U
E...E....E...P
N...N...K...H
E...E...E...A
.........L....R
..............S
...............I
..............N

You do babble on, Srul.

Srul, I think it's actually:

M...M...S...T
A...A...H....O
N...N...E....P
Y...Y...K....A
.........E.....Y
.........L.....H
.........S.....I
...............M

I just assume a trade for Griffey mean a spot on the bech for Vidro, which would improve the Mariners in the short term. Would Bavasi really give up anything of quality for Griff?

Even without giving up anything, would Griffey entrenched at DH and Ibanez in the OF be better than Ibanez + Lofton in the OF, and Ibanez + Clement at DH? If the Mariners trade for Griffey, they will be higher unlikely to be willing to sit the highly paid prodigal returning hero.

With the Jacques Jones experience cut short, would Griffey make sense for Detroit? Considering the continuing defensive struggles of Edwin Encarnacion, maybe a Brandon Inge-Griffey trade could work.

Three things to add, being a longtime resident here and a lurker on the M's blogs:

1) Griffey's visit to Seattle last year was THE event of the season, even outdoing the showdown in early September in which the M's were supposed to catch the Angels for the AL West lead. All games for the Reds series were sellouts, and reporters on the scene say that many of the fans didn't look as if they'd been to a Mariners game in years. (Other less reputable reports say that these newcomers had a serious game-long buzz, but I digress.) M. Valentin's post is accurate.

2) The traditional sports-section local column in the offseason is the "Boy, it would be great if Griffey came back to the Mariners" column. Steve Kelley of the SeaTimes is the usual perp, but P-I and Tacoma News-Tribune writers have wrote the same thing. You can set your watch by it.

3) This latest Griffey "days in Cincinnati may be numbered" rumor -- which Nightengale seems to have pounced on for TFA -- was ignited by a Buster Olney assertion made in one of his recent ESPN Insider blogs. Buster allegedly wrote, paraphrasing, "I have absolutely no information that a trade is going down or that the two sides are even talking, but it just makes too much sense for the teams involved."