Day two, franchise held hostage: no news in Griffey news
DMZ · November 10, 2009 at 8:00 am · Filed Under Mariners
How can this be taking so long?
Version 1:
Z: “We loved having Griffey here, but we need to go another direction for DH next year… and our outfield is packed.”
Goldberg: “Okay!”
Version 2:
Z: “The business and marketing folks tell me I can pay your client $2m to not hit again next year as our designated hitter.”
G: “Okay!”
Version 3:
Z: “The business and marketing folks tell me I can pay your client $2m to not hit again next year as our designated hugger.”
G: “Okay!”
or
G: “Sorry, Ken wants to play every day he wants to play.”
Z: “I’m sorry we couldn’t come to an agreement then.”
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31 Responses to “Day two, franchise held hostage: no news in Griffey news”
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Seems like you shouldn’t sign Griffey until you’re sure he’s going to make the roster. It would be bad PR to announce his signing, and then cut him later.
I wouldn’t expect anything to happen on this front until close to Spring Training, just like last year.
Ummm… haven’t been following the news, huh?
Since we all know he IS coming back…. Can I take Scenario 3?
Yeah, let’s just realize the inevitable and hope we’re not going through this again next year. Over/under on how many “one last years” he will play?
And now Larry Stone hops on the “bring him back” bandwagon. Siiiigh.
Larry Stone’s poll shows how much the basic fan wants him back. I think if they bring him back it sends a message to the sabermetric crowd that the team doesn’t believe it can make a run this year. That’s my opinion.
The results of an internet poll are hardly scientific. Larry had a good run being USSM approved.
As disappointing as I found Larry’s article today, I doubt one article is going to dump him from the “USSM approved” list. More often than not, he’s great.
Sorry, thought the point of the post was that there isn’t any news. Am I missing something?
georgmi, see this:
Griffey Decision Not Going To Drag Out
I did see that. I also recall that there were a lot of “a decision is imminent” stories last offseason, but that nothing happened until mid-February.
The Braves still haven’t made their play yet. 🙂
There’s no chance that the Mariners would cut Griffey before the start of the season.
I would expect a decision sooner rather than later, because the Mariners can’t wait until February to move on other players.
Both those reasons–no chance they’d cut him, and they need to move on other players–suggest to me that the correct strategy for the M’s with respect to Junior is to wait. If they fill up the roster with players who will contribute, then they don’t sign Junior and don’t have to take the hit of cutting him or having him block someone who would help them more.
If they have room on the roster after they’ve gotten as much value out of the trade and free agent market as they can, then they sign Junior for the really real we mean it this time Happy Farewell Tour.
By signing him early, they’d be reducing their flexibility, and that’s the last thing they can afford.
OK, A-Rod and Roy Halladay are the last things they can afford, but you know what I mean.
Okay, we can throw all the numbers out there and talk about how by the numbers and stats griffey takes up a roster spot and doesnt produce as much as someone else in his place.
But how many of you have actually played on a team? a baseball team? playing through a long tedious season?
well Griffey brings a clubhouse presence that is unmatchable. look at all the playoff teams. they were TEAMS not a group of good players that you throw together (except maybe the yanks)
but the team bonded last year with Griff and Sweeney, and both have some prodcution left in them.
I dont have any sentimental reasoning for bringing Griffey back, i could care less about the lovey dubby stuff. But I do not want to sit through the 08 season all over again where the players on talk to their friends on the team. Griffey and Sweeney brought the clubhouse together…. thats something that helps teams win, when every guy is pulling for the next.
Seattle, your star player, superstar, Ichiro was distant from the rest of the team the past 4 years and then last year he was involved and looked like he was having fun.
I say bring back either Griffey or Sweeney. Not both, but one.
dballer1992, read this article on evaluating chemistry
and see if you still have the same position.
dballer1992, it is both lazy and arrogant to assume that the people who read this blog have never played baseball or have no idea what it is like to participate in a team sport.
That being said, you really have no evidence for anything you wrote. In fact, I could really easily find counter arguments to what you wrote, but I suggest you read the post Liam suggested above.
[spelling, etc]
I don’t know which is more disturbing: that the M’s front office is even considering this indefensible baseball move, or that Stone has apparently lost his stones and surrendered to the Griffey mythology.
To review the bidding: Griffey was the worst DH in baseball last year. As in dead last. His WAR was exactly that of Chris Young of the D-Backs, whose season was so dismal he was banished to Triple A for a while. But at least Young is 26 years olds, can field and run the bases. I believe a strong case could be made that all things considered, Griffey was among the ten worst regular players in the major leagues last year.
I don’t care if he continues to embarrass himself. In fact, I enjoy it. But I resent the idea that somehow his presence makes us a better baseball team when in fact the exact opposite is true.
But, but, his knee is fixed! Don’t you know what that means? It means that he will have more great years like the last 5 where he was 259/347/479. You should be ecstatic. I sure am!
/sarcasm off
The first one is disturbing. The second one is just saddening.
Of course Griffey comes back next year. And the real reason will have nothing to do with chemistry and certainly nothing to do with what he brings during games any more.
I simply don’t believe the M’s will miss availing themselves of an opportunity to milk every last dollar out of the casual sops who will show up for a 2010 Griffey Farewell Tour, Just Like Edgar Had!(tm)
Marketing to this city’s fan base can be like shooting fish in a barrel because the bar is set so low. The majority of the casual fan base would rather see an 80 win team with Griffey than a 90 win team without him.
The good news is that there are means for those who know Stone is full of it to communicate amongst one another. Twenty years ago, you’d just take the local paper’s position as gospel.
Xteve X, I 100% agree. The truth is, the M’s front office cares about profits first and wins second. The bean counters are truly in charge.
At least recently they have started to figure out that wins lead to profits, but, they are never one to turn down a cash cow at the merchandising stand like Griffey.
Seriously, you still believe that crap?
I had hoped Griffey would call it a career after last year, but it seems he really wants to come back for one more go round.
The good news is that Griffey and his agent seem to be totally realistic about their lack of bargaining power. They are indicating he will work cheap and not demand much playing time.
You certainly can’t fault the guy for that.
Griffey knows he’s not part of the future, he just wants to hang around for one more year because he obviously had the time of his life last year.
Well, truer words were never spoken! Of course he does. Because this continues to be what it’s been from day one–all about him.
He could care less about the team–this is simple the team that will treat him like the spoiled child he’s always been (do a little research and you’ll find his own father admitting the same).
Just because you’re one of the most incredible baseball talents who ever lived–from the neck down–doesn’t mean you get to do what you want forever (or, in Seattle, maybe it does).
But I don’t care if he’s a prima donna. I care that, once again, he will be taking up a spot on the bench in the place of someone who actually may have some baseball talent.
The man can not let go. He is the Brett Favre of baseball–except that Favre can still play.
Fangraphs has an interesting take on Griffey’s last years. It will obviously not get better if he comes back. I think it’s fair to say that whoever the Braves signed to play left, Anderson or Griffey, was going to be the worst player in the majors last year. His legacy will be helped by having not gone to Atlanta, and will be helped immeasurably by signing with FSN to do the postgame show this coming year.
Ken, you were never my favorite player (that was Edgar), but you were my son’s. Please let his last memory of seeing you be the homer you hit at that game in August. And mine the homer you hit the second from last game of the year.
Now there’s an idea that hadn’t occured to me. Send him to the booth. He and Dave together would be interesting to say the least.
He cannot possibly be any worse than Dave Valle. I truly believe the mute button was created with him in mind.
I use mine pirmarily for Rizzs.
I might have meant “primarily”. It’s hard to know for sure though considering that I’ve been typing like I’m on a bender lately.