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Ken Griffey Jr. is returning to Seattle for at least one more season. The story was originally reported by ESPN and confirmed in a statement by the team Wednesday afternoon.
The future Hall of Famer agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Mariners that's similar to the one he signed prior to the 2009 season. Griffey returned to the city he became a star in last year after spending nearly a decade in Cincinnati and hit .214/.324/.411 with 19 homers over 117 game for the Mariners.
"I'd like to thank the Mariners organization for inviting me back to play in 2010," said Griffey in a statement. "While 2009 was an awesome experience for me, my ultimate goal is for the Mariners to get to and win the World Series."
Griffey's obviously in the twilight of his career at this point; he's going to turn 40 in 10 days and his production had dropped precipitously the last two seasons. In fact, 2009 was only the second season of his entire career that he finished with an OPS+ below 100 over his 21-year career. Still, he clearly thinks that he's got one season left in him and the Mariners must want that season to be in Seattle, otherwise he'd be a free agent.
"We believe that Ken's presence with the Seattle Mariners organization was such a positive asset last season with his leadership on and off the field," said Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik. "His passion for baseball, life and the Seattle Mariners goes unsaid. "
It is a nice thought. Something just felt right about seeing Junior in a Mariners uniform last year, even if he was a shadow of the guy that belted 48 homers with a .960 OPS while patrolling center field that left Seattle in 1999. Still, his offense is dropping and he's no longer even an option to play in field (he only wore a glove 11 times last year, with 91 appearances as a DH), which means that he's of pretty limited value to the Mariners.
More than anything, it looks like Seattle's provided a chance for one of the franchise legends to take a victory lap in 2010. While that's a noble thought, it's still a little sad to see great players cling on for one more year after their skills have mostly deserted them.
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