Forget any of those ideas about Griffey returning to Seattle to join M's

Would you trade Mike Cameron back to the Reds for Griffey?

Greg Johns

Originally published Friday, April 12, 2002

Ken Griffey Jr. back to Seattle? Give me a break.

The Return of Griffey rumors, floating since before the season, in recent days were expressed by Keith Olbermann of ABC Radio and by a Seattle columnist.

The rumors are as baseless as Griffey's game as he rehabilitates an injury that puts his future in question.

That future won't be in Seattle, a fact as guaranteed as the $100 million left on his contract.

The Mariners would have little interest in an injured player with seven years left on a $116 million deal, given their success in spreading the wealth the past two seasons.

Ask M's president Chuck Armstrong, whose relationship with Griffey goes back to Junior's glory years in Seattle.

"This is nuts," Armstrong said. "Absolutely ludicrous. There is nothing to it whatsoever. I can tell you unequivocally, there is nothing to that."

Wouldn't the M's be interested in reacquiring the man who hit 398 home runs and helped save baseball in Seattle during his 11 seasons in this city?

"The guy is hurt," Armstrong said. "He may have just suffered a season-ending injury. Secondly, there's the issue of payroll. We're over budget already. Thirdly, the last thing we heard from Ken Griffey Jr. was that he wanted to be traded. So we traded him."

Perhaps Junior wants out of an increasingly difficult situation in Cincinnati and used friends and media to send up a trial balloon.

"No one in this organization has had any conversation with anyone in the Cincinnati organization," Armstrong said.

Media reports said there had been third-party talks between the M's and friends of Griffey, who reportedly would welcome a return to Seattle.

M's CEO Howard Lincoln and general manager Pat Gillick weren't pleased with the squeeze Junior put on Seattle when they tried to trade him after Griffey said he wouldn't re-sign when his deal expired.

Lincoln and Gillick like the franchise's current financial flexibility, with a balanced 25-man roster absent of superstar-laden long-term deals.

To get Griffey back would require reversing the successful trend away from a top-heavy payroll. The Reds aren't going to give their best man away, so what players would the M's part with to obtain an injured, declining star?

One rumor had the M's trading Bret Boone for Griffey. Absurd! Boone just signed a three-year, $25 million deal.

Griffey's earnings are reported at $8 million this year, but the Reds have deferred $57 million of his salary to 2009-2024.

That's a lot of cash for a guy whose future is as tenuous as the knee tendon he tore Sunday.

Boone is more productive, less expensive and far healthier.

Would you trade Mike Cameron back to the Reds for Griffey?

Cameron, making $4.2 million this season, will never be the offensive player Junior was in his prime. But compare the two since Gillick supposedly got hoodwinked by Reds GM Jim Bowden.

Griffey: 261 games, 160 runs, 44 doubles, 63 home runs, 186 RBIs, 8 stolen bases, .277 average.

Cameron: 313 games, 200 runs, 60 doubles, 45 home runs, 190 RBIs, 59 stolen bases, .268 average.

Cameron has been healthier and more productive offensively and has played a superb center field. He's clearly on the upside of his career.

Adding Griffey's salary would require parting with another quality player to stay in budget.

The M's never had any intention of trading for Griffey. They certainly don't now that he's hurt.

Is Griffey coming back to Seattle? Not a chance.

Greg Johns can be reached at gjohns@juno.com.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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