Griffey Could Be Going, Going … … Gone Especially If Mariners Don’t Get Serious About Winning
If the Seattle Mariners don’t improve on the field, Ken Griffey Jr. may choose to add to his fortune with another franchise after he becomes a free agent.
In order for the Mariners to keep their 25-year-old superstar center fielder after his contract expires in 1996, they must start winning. Right now.
Who says?
Griffey, that’s who.
And Griffey said Friday he keeps hearing the Mariners will trade him and his $7 million salary.
“Everybody keeps telling me that this might be my last year in a Mariners uniform because of my salary,” he said before taking part in Seattle’s first mandatory spring training workout for regular players.
Despite Griffey, the Mariners have had just two winning teams in his six years in Seattle. In the strike-shortened 1994 season, Seattle was 49-63, although Griffey led the American League with 40 home runs.
A a five-time All-Star, Griffey is so popular in Seattle that he’s been compared to a cult hero. He has 172 career home runs and won’t be 26 until Nov. 26.
He may be the best player in the game. He’s a five-time Gold Glove in the outfield who was targeting Roger Maris’ single-season home-run record of 61 when the players went on strike last Aug. 12.
That’s all nice, he said. Now, all he wants to do is win. And it’s up to the Mariners’ ownership and front office to surround him with the players it will take.
“My decision depends on what we do this year and next year,” Griffey said. “If they sign a couple of players that can help us or I feel can help us, I may stick around. But if we’re in the same situation of rebuilding, I’m not going to be rebuilding all my life.”
With the small-market Mariners facing the prospect of trimming an estimated $5 million to reduce the player payroll to $30 million, they’re looking at subtracting players, not adding them, though.
By winning, Griffey is talking about playing in a World Series. His father, Ken Sr., has three World Series rings and that drives Griffey now.
“I’m an unsatisfied person because I see what my dad has and what those things have brought him. No matter what you could say about my father, he’s got three World Series rings,” Griffey said.
The Mariners need a happy Griffey because they’re campaigning strongly in the Washington Legislature for support for a new, retractable-roof stadium. They know they’re chances for a new stadium would be greatly diminished if Griffey left.
Griffey knows all of this, too. During the offseason, he forced the Mariners to swallow hard and give right fielder Jay Buhner, Griffey’s close friend, a three-year, $15.5 million contract.
Griffey said he wanted some stability in the outfield. He pointed out he’s had 18 left fielders in his six seasons - and 845 games - in center field in Seattle.
Griffey has told the Mariners he will renegotiate his contract and defer some of his money in order to help the team win. “I’m not a greedy ball player,” he said.
Griffey and his wife, Melissa, have a 1-year-old son, Trey. They have a home in the Seattle suburb of Issaquah. They love Seattle.
Still, he will move on if he has to do that to get to the World Series, he said. “I’m not going to be a player who is going to spend his whole career in a city just because I love the city,” he said.
Mariners Chairman and CEO John Ellis understands. “We’re going to do what we can within reason to make that possible,” he said.