According to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, Griffey has reached a one-year deal worth $2 million plus incentives to remain with the Seattle Mariners. The 2010 season will be Griffey’s 22nd in the majors, and likely the twilight of a Hall of Fame career that began in 1989.
Junior hit just .214/.324/.411 in 387 at-bats for the Mariners during his 2009 campaign, but he mashed 19 homers, and could still prove to be a valuable member of a designated hitter platoon. Although Griffey logged a pathetic .584 OPS on the road in 2009, he mashed to the tune of a .930 mark at Safeco Field.
Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik is thrilled to have The Kid back for another year.
“We’re tickled pink that he’s decided to come back,” Zduriencik told ESPN.com. “He was such a positive role model, if you will, for a lot of players. He likes where we’re headed, and he likes what’s going on here. He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and the greatest player in Seattle Mariners history.”
Griffey’s 630 lifetime long balls place him fifth on the all-time list, and he could well be chasing Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron had he enjoyed greater durability during the 2002-04 seasons, when Junior was limited to only 206 games over three years.
