Us
Meta
Reference Material
The Future Forty 3/19/09
Evaluating Defense Evaluating Pitcher Talent
Evaluating Managers
Bugs Bunny, Greatest Banned Player Ever Selected for Best American Sports Writing!
The Attrition WarDisclaimer, Copyright
The U.S.S. Mariner is in no way affiliated with, condoned or given any notice by the Seattle Mariners baseball team, who have their own website. Similarly, we have no association with the ownership group or any businesses related to the Mariners. All article text is written by the authors, all pictures are taken by the authors, who retain copyright to their works. No copying or reproduction of any content here, photographic or otherwise, is authorized. Please email us if you wish to reproduce our work.
Griffey… hey, Griffey
SIGN A FREAKING DEAL ALREADY WOULD YOU ARRGGHHHH
Tags:
Comments
-
Recent Posts
- Projections, Prospects and Assorted Links
- Running For Cancer Research
- Historical Relationship Between Money And Wins
- Are Lefty Relievers the New Market Inefficiency?
- M’s Sign Shawn Camp Too
- M’s Expected To Sign Hong-Chih Kuo
- On Clubhouse Confidential
- M’s Sign Carlos Guillen
- The Mariners Off-Season Should Not Be Over
- Baseball America Top 10 List Is Out
Author Links
Forums
Local M's Coverage
M's Blogosphere
M's Official Sites
Player Blogs
Resources
Twittah
If Arod had not dominated the news cycle yesterday, he probably would have announced already. Are there other ex-Mariners whom Griffey resents that could stomp on his day? Maybe Unit will either announce his retirement or admit to huffing gasoline between 2001-2003.
This may be the last chance Griffey has to create a media stir until he retires. He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth.
Not to mention his agent…who would like to create a bidding war if possible for Griffey to maximize his payday.
Could this perceived competition for the sports headlines possibly work in Seattle’s favor, as far as Griffey signing with us? It would seemingly make a bigger splash compared to signing with Atlanta.
I’m curious how this will play out…
He’s waiting to see which city hangs up the most “We Heart Jr” banners. Cuz remember, no one *ever* hangs up signs for Griffey. Everyone else gets banners, but not Jr.
Oh, the happy memories…
Tek Jansen if that’s what he’s waiting for he won’t be signing a deal for a very long time.
As one that wanted Griffey back, this has gotten very old and I don’t even care if he comes here at this point. I am resigned to the fact that he has chosen Atlanta and would just like it confirmed so we can move on. Instead of healing old wounds, this is just sprinkling salt into them.
Since when is a washed-up, 39-year-old, oft-injured corner outfielder worth this kind of attention? Did we fawn like this when the M’s inked Jose Vidro? What about when Miguel Cairo was inked? Did Bill Wilkerson get this kind of press?
Removing the nostalgia from the equation, this is the most absurd example of soap-opera drama I’ve seen over a MLB player in several years.
Dave, Derek, et al… can you guys please spend a little time focusing some more on the young players that will be in ST instead of on an old, ex-Mariner has-been that wouldn’t likely offer more than a .270-18-70 line? I don’t know about anyone else here, but I have enjoyed the blogs/comments regarding guys like Cedeno, Olson, Gutierrez and the like than this whole drawn-out gobbledegoop over Junior.
I await with bated breath.
Sidi-
Are you assuming that the Arod story will not go away, or that Unit will indeed confess to years of huffing gasoline, which of course, is undetectable in urine and blood tests. It does, however, enhance the performance of one’s mullet.
Hopefully this is the last post about Griffey until an official report.
I guess if we miss out on Griffey, we’ll just have to sign Manny to soothe our wounds.
What? You can’t blame someone for incredibly wishful thinking can you?
No matter what happens, I give props to Jack Z for the way this was handled.
You know Bavasi would have given Griffey AT LEAST $5 million a couple of months ago and this would have been a done deal.
Jack Z stuck to his guns, refused to sign Griffey to an above-market contract and waited until the very last minute to make a reasonable offer of about $1.5-2 million.
If that gave Atlanta a chance to sneak it at the last minute and “steal” Griffey away with a comparable offer, oh well.
If Griffey comes, the M’s did not over-pay.
If Griffey does not come, it proves that Jack Z refused to bust the budget and sell out his long-term rebuilding plans for a short-term PR move.
I feel bad for all the people who were really excited about Griffey “coming home.”
I hope that Griffey’s decision to sign with Atlanta shows that “he’s just not that into you.”
Tek Jansen I don’t think the A-Rod story will go away. Even without new information coming out, it’s just too close to the east coast media. I would be willing to bet, no matter where Griffey signs, A-Rod will get 3x the national talk time that day.
And of course now an Atlanta TV station is saying Griffey is leaning towards Mariners.
I don’t even care anymore. Just pick a team, any team, and end it.
It’s getting to the point where I might have to reconsider my notion of Armstrong and Lincoln as bumbling and interfering tools. First, they hired Zduriencik, then they stayed out of his way. There’s still time for them to revert to top form, a la Washburn, but I do believe they trust Z to balance PR interests against baseball sense against budget constraints and come up with the right move. That might be the most encouraging sign of this offseason.
they love me! [petal drops]
they love me not! [petal drops]
they love me! [petal drops]
they love me not! [petal drops]
they love me! [petal drops]
they love me not! [petal drops]
I had a dream last night that I got up this morning to look for Griffey news to find out we signed Wash to a 2-year extension…
Never in my life has no news been good news…
Make up your mind Kenny…
We don’t know enough yet to be able to blame or credit Jack Z for losing Griffey. For all we know, he was not a factor at all. If, indeed, he has budget that he cannot exceed, then it is quite possible that his hands were tied, which means he shouldn’t be criticized later if Griffey hits 30 homers for the Braves this year or lauded if Griffey pulls up lame early for the Braves.
None of the guys you mentioned are Hall of Famers.
“Did we fawn like this when the M’s inked Jose Vidro? ”
I think we rioted if memory serves (given the contract and who we gave up).
Jr is probably hoping for a third bidder to emerge.
This reminds me of the endless transfer deadline talk in soccer. You just accept that this is how the media game is played and try to ignore it.
Griffey should go hang out with Beckham, they’re well suited for each other.
Interesting tidbit from this AJC columnist:
Apparently, Griffey is the one who initiated the talks with Atlanta, not the other way around:
Please, use the handy link button. Naked URLs = bad
I just went over to the Atlanta Braves “blog of record” (whatever THAT means) talkingchop.com and THEY are as out of patience as we all are.
Well, if there were such a thing as a blog of record, it would be the blog which the Braves used to make all their official announcements.
Whenever my 7 and 8 yr old boys and I are sitting in traffic or waiting excessively on something, I always try to turn it into a positive and say “this is a great chance for all of us to practice our patience.”
Sometimes, I really don’t like taking my own advice…
[deleted, OT]
[also ot]
Hey ABBOTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…………..I hate that guy……..
Hopefully if Jr. does decide to go to Atlanta, this will give us time to work out a deal for N. Johnson or N. Swisher.
[ot]
[continues to be OT]
Watch, Griffey will come out and say, “Ha ha ha guys! Just kidding, I’m going to retire! Thanks! See you in the hall of Fame! I’d like to thank the Mariners for giving me the opportunity to play baseball professionally…and…”
Nothing left but to make jokes about the situation.
I wish that ESPN had enough of a sense of humor to rerun the “it’s never iffy if it’s Griffey!” commercials.
I wonder if he thinks he could just sign his farewell deal with the M’s next year. At this point coming to Seattle will no longer generate what little buzz there was (Bees!). Perhaps that’s the reason for his delay, gambling on 2010 rather than this year? I assume we’d sign him then anyway, if only for a day so he could retire a Mariner.
I just finished “A Well-Paid Slave”, a biography of Curt Flood. Essentially, Curt Flood gave up his career and probably his life (he died at 59 from cancer that was probably exacerbated by the drinking binge that his lawsuit led him to) for the right of Ken Griffey, Jr. to decide where he wanted to work. The same right that, say, Conor had to leave USSM and go to work for Baseball America.
There is a group of commenters here who have been complaining that Griffey owes something to the fans of Seattle. This is also a group of commenters here who have suggested that the M’s might cut an unproductive Griffey mid-season. My question is, is there an intersection between the two groups? That would be the height of hypocrisy, yes?
That’s crazy talk. If Junior signs with Seattle, the 3-day delay will do very little to limit the Griffey-mania the media and fanbase will have the next month…
Still likely he goes to Atlanta, but don’t kid yourself. This will be a HUGE local story if he comes here. Frankly, the specter of him picking Seattle over the team next door to his home will make him look even more in love with Seattle.
I feel like an idiot …
I keep checking the news every 30 minutes to see if Griffey has made his decision yet.
Geesh!!
Come on Griffey, I’ve got work to do man!
LOL
While I would love to see Junior in a Mariners uniform again, I would also like to see Michael Saunders called up in July, 2009. Accordingly, if we lose Junior, I hope Z does nothing.
Breadbaker, you’re forgetting something here. Yeah, we all know it’s a business but, as the players themselves often say, “We get paid to play a kids’ game.” It’s undeniably a business. But the “Say It Ain’t So Joe” little kid in all of us would like to see everybody transcend all that and experience a little nostaglia.
When 77-year-old John Glenn flew on the space shuttle in 1998, it supposedly was to do research on the effects of space on older people. Yeah, right. A grateful nation was giving him a victory lap.
So if it sounds like we feel that Griffey “owes us something,” it’s just that longtime M’s fans want that same kind of victory lap for Griffey (Assuming, of course, he doesn’t embarass himself or hurt the team. We may be kids but we still want to win.)
I feel like an idiot …
I feel ya…. I just want him to decide already so we can talk about something else either way!
Amen Gump and SeasonTix. I’m starting to wish my employer would place a one-day ban on visiting sports websites. Please just let it end.
I am curious to see what happens if Griffey inks the deal with Atlanta. It has to be tough right now. He’s faced with a job in an ideal location with a manager he respects a good deal and who must let him play the field quite a bit. He must weigh that against coming back to where he started, knowing the M’s will throw him parade after parade, retire his number, and do all kinds of Griffey farewell tour PR stunts. It’s only a year, and you can live anywhere for a year, but Atlanta means he is home every week . . .
I feel bad for the guy, honestly. He makes some group of people angry no matter what. I wonder what kind of change in the average Mariner fan’s feelings for Griffey that a second snub, no matter how reasonable, would create.
I was really hoping we would know his decision by today. It looks like that might not happen though. Anybody heard of any rumors that show him leaning either way?
A little tidbit of early reporting?
more rumor mongering …
Heard on the Ian Furness show on KJR at about 2:50 PM …
A listener sent the following pic to Goldberg, Griffey’s agent, with a heartfelt plea for Griffey to come back to Seattle:
Pic of Griffey carrying A-Rod piggy back with kid running behind
And here’s the catch … Goldberg emailed the guy back a short time ago!
He said he was sitting with Griffey at that moment and they still have not made a decision.
This is getting weird …
I’m actually starting to think that Griffey may choose Seattle just to piss off the AJC for leaking the story that Atlanta was a done deal.
As the world turns …
Soo… My new hope is that Griffey will indeed sign with the Braves for $2-3M. The Braves as well as Griffey will realize by July that even with his repaired knee, he can’t play in the field. The Braves will bench him at which point he will “request” a trade…
The Mariners then pick him up for a grade D prospect, let him DH against righties for the rest of the year, and Griffey retires a Mariner.
This solves a number of problems:
1) Griffey retires as a Mariner which many M’s fans from the 90s would like to see in some form (myself included)
2) The M’s don’t carry Griffey for the whole year. This means that any ticket lift is during the 2nd half, which may be the most useful for the club. This also gives playing time early in the year to players the team needs to sort out.
3) Griffey may be more willing to accept a role as a DH if his other option was the bench in Atlanta.
Come on Atlanta! You can make this happen.
SeasonTix,
That is weird. I wonder if there is any truth to that? Are they seriously sitting around STILL trying to decide?
That’s a funny mental picture.
Hickey has comments from the Ayatollah of team building:
That A-Rod/Griffey picture is simultaneously awesome and depressing.
I can say to everyone “Ahhh, let him go” but the fact of the matter is i’d rather see him on TV wearing a M’s jersey than going down the road to Turner field and watch him in person. If he does sign with Atlanta then i’m wearing his Seattle Jersey every game I go to. Armstrong is right. Seattle needs him. Not for novelty like some say but for him. His attitude, the fact that he has been pure his whole career, and the mood he will bring to a (lets face it) a pretty bland team. You never know what those kids are capable of if they have someone like Jr. on the bench with them. The only problem I have with the team is the manager. Cox can get the respect of Griffey. I dont know about Wakmu. But with Griffey being the person he is he will probably just be the same ole team player and go along with it. I thought for sure he inked a deal with Atlanta. I’m hopeful for now anyway.
I remember going to a Red Sox / Mariners game at the Safe in the summer of 1999. The M’s were down by 2 going into the bottom of an inning (somewhere like the 3rd or 4th) and I remember saying to those I went to the game with that the great thing about the M’s is that A-Rod and Griffey could go back to back and tie the game up by themselves. They then proceeded to do just that. I loved those teams but am not sure I’d want A-Rod (at least not with his salary and/or baggage) or Griffey back as full time players.
[ot]
Man, this is getting old – Thank God the S.I. Swimsuit edition is out.
Did anyone else see Washington Post’s take on this?
Their take is that Seattle is trying to overpay for Griffey, but Griffey might do the right thing and turn down the purely mercenary lure to play for Seattle in order to righteously take less money to really help a team that could be contenders if only they had his help.
I thought we were the ones offering low money but high emotional reasoning and that Atlanta were the mercenaries throwing more money his way…
This is just one example of how the world certainly isn’t seeing this whole thing the way that Seattle sports fans (on either side of the arguments about the merits of this potential signing) are seeing it.
Atlanta will not contend though. They have the Phillies and the Mets to hurdle and that will not happen. Lowe will be a bust and Vazquez cannot carry the team and neither will Glavine.
Griffey will end up the scapegoat when they miss the playoffs. In Seattle at least he will be honored and have his hero status with no conditions in Seattle. If the Mariners do something this season he will get some credit, if they dont the fans will still say thank you.
I’ve heard Griffey say he’ll play until they tear the uniform off his back. I don’t think he’s looking at 2009 as being his last season.
The sentimental schmuck in me hopes Griffey signs and I get a chance to see him play as a Mariner again. The other part of me hopes he signs with Atlanta, and I can get back to hearing about the players that ARE here, and play for my team, and how the front office plans to make the M’s contenders again.
Right now, all the coverage I’m seeing of the M’s at the moment is “will he, or won’t he?” There’s a lot of intriguing storylines with this year’s Mariner club. The Griffey thing takes away from all of that. I just want it over so we can move on.