Mariners’ Deals Concern Griffey On Two Fronts Replacing Pair Will Be Difficult, But He Worries About Tino, Too

Ken Griffey Jr. is concerned about the Seattle Mariners after their trades of Mike Blowers and Tino Martinez. That makes sense. Seattle will have difficulty replacing Martinez’s 31 home runs, even after their recent addition of Paul Sorrento.

But Griffey also is concerned about Martinez, who will try to make the tough adjustment from the relative serenity and obscurity of Seattle to the cacophony of New York. Martinez apparently has no trepidation about it; he dived right in with a five-year deal before he took even one at-bat in pinstripes. That is somewhat understandable considering the Yankees gave him $20.25 million after just one truly outstanding season.

However, Griffey knows something about playing in the Bronx. His father, Ken Griffey Sr., was a Yankee and he used to hang around the Stadium as a youngster. While Griffey has said many times he wouldn’t want to play for New York owner George Steinbrenner, he has some other concerns for Martinez.

“He has big shoes to fill,” Griffey said of Martinez, brought in to replace Don Mattingly. “Fans of No. 23 are going to expect a lot. I just hope the fans don’t get down on him. Tino’s not a quick starter (Martinez’s lifetime average in April is just .239). But he’ll pull through. He was always a plus for us.

“He’s a positive player. He doesn’t cause any trouble. He’s a good guy on and off the field. I just hope this works out for him.”

Griffey also has deep concerns about the Mariners, who felt they needed to save money and did so by excising Martinez and Blowers and replacing them with Sorrento and Russ Davis. The winter before, Griffey saved the Mariners from losing Jay Buhner by convincing Mariners management to match the $15.45 million, three-year deal the Baltimore Orioles offered Buhner. But with the Mariners still losing financially, there was nothing Griffey could do this time.

Part of the reason the Mariners needed to save money was to have it for Griffey, whose four-year, $24 million contract expires after this season. If they intend to keep credibility, they can’t lose the game’s most exciting and charismatic player. The Mariners are mulling a long-term deal for Griffey, who might instead be inclined to extend his deal for just one more year, at $8 million, so his contract will expire simultaneously with Buhner’s.

There have been only brief contract talks thus far, as Griffey is concentrating on outside interests with the help of his lawyer, Rick Licht of West Hempstead.

“In 1996, I’ll be a Mariner. They have a year to decide what they want to do,” Griffey said. “I can’t force them to trade me. If it works out, fine. If not, there’s no hard feelings. It’s not the money. I got a taste of it last year, and I want to win year-in and year-out. I want to go in knowing we’re in position to do that.”