PEORIA, Ariz. - Ken Griffey Jr. has decided to return to the Seattle Mariners.

"He's coming home. ... I can't begin to tell you how ecstatic we are. He is, too," Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik confirmed on Wednesday night, calling Griffey "arguably one of the greatest athletes to ever play in the Seattle area."

The 39-year-old star's contract is for one year and believed to be worth $2 million in base salary, plus incentives.

"Ken is extremely excited to be coming back to Seattle," Zduriencik said.

Atlanta appeared to be Griffey's choice on Tuesday for the same reason the former Mariners star left Seattle in 2000: geography.

The Braves' spring training camp is about a 20-minute drive from the Griffey family home in Orlando, Fla., and Atlanta is about an hour away by plane.

But after conflicting reports about where the aging star would settle, Griffey ultimately chose to follow through on his proclamation two years ago when he came to Seattle while playing with the Reds - that he wanted to finish his career as a Mariner.

"We were informed tonight that Ken Griffey Jr. has decided to return to Seattle," Braves general manager Frank Wren said.

"We will continue to be open to other possibilities to improve our outfield offence and, at the same time, give our young players an opportunity to show us they can win that job."

Zduriencik said the Mariners were the beneficiaries of Griffey wanting to cement his legacy in Seattle.

"Oh, I don't think there's any doubt about that," he said. "Everyone knows Ken Griffey is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and he's returning to his roots.

"That doesn't happen too often."

The Mariners have a job as designated hitter and perhaps in left field waiting for him for 2009. The Braves were offering a possible platoon in the outfield - plus that cherished proximity to home.

Griffey is fifth on baseball's career home run list with 611.

He made his first opening day start with the Mariners as a 19-year-old in 1989. He stayed for 11 seasons and through 10 all-star games before he asked for a trade closer to his home.

The Mariners obliged by sending him to Cincinnati just before the 2000 season.

Griffey's return is a jolt for the Mariners, the first team with a $100-million payroll to lose 100 games - last season.

"A rejuvenated Ken Griffey coming back to where he started has to be a fabulous motivator for him," Zduriencik said.

The GM had been trying to add a power hitter, and specifically a designated hitter, for months and was also talking to the agent for free agent Garret Anderson.

The Mariners prefer a left-handed bat because the dimensions of pitcher-friendly Safeco Field are shortest in right field.

The configuration fits the left-handed Griffey so well, the Mariners presented him with a framed photo of their stadium before a Reds-Mariners game in 2007, with the words "The House that Griffey Built" across the top.

Griffey played just half a season in it before getting the trade he demanded.

Yet the fans in Seattle still love "Junior."






http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=267655&...=headlines_main

Man he's a weird case - it seems like its been decades since he was fully healthy yet his career stats still look amazing

he could wind up being the hero of the steroid age if he's always been clean

One of the all-time great's IMO. Being from Cincinnati, I think it's a real shame that he was never able to find true success in his hometown.

Like the article said, he's a first ballot hall of famer and will go in as a Mariner. I think it's fitting for him to finish his career where he started it.

He's a first ballot HOFer.


Pretty cool that he's back in Seattle. I totally hated him back in the day, but probably because he was just so damn good and played against my team.

the buzz this has created in seattle is really amazing. signing aging/broken down former all stars doesn't always work out so well. but it's damn nice to have the kid back in town. after the worst year in seattle sports history for all our teams, we finally have something to be excited about

As a purely baseball move this is a terrible move. Hes a worse hitter than Jeff Clement who seemed to be in line for most of the DH time and he is a worse left fielder than even Endy Chavez considering that even though Griffey's a better hitter they are on completely opposite ends of the defensive spectrum. Honestly Junior is a replacement level player. Hopefully they only use him as a DH against right handed pitching because outside of that he has absolutely zero value.

Saying all that, it still is probably a good move because he is so popular in Seattle. For a team that I think will be a lot better than people think, but still wont probably play a lot of meaningful games the 2 million+ might be a bargain compared to how much revenue he will bring in.

I keep hearing this but it's gonna come to a point where we find out that pretty much everyone took roids. it's not like we can take the records away. I mean you can always justify that it's a roid hitter vs. a roid pitcher so it all evened out.

Edited.

I honestly don't think Griffey ever took 'roids. The circumstantial evidence certainly seems to point in that direction IMO. Yeah, he did get bigger over the course of his career, but that can be attributed to his body filling out from the age of 19 when he broke in. He never got HUGE like Bonds did, or even as big as A-Roid. Also, I don't think he would have had all those injury problems if he'd been juicing.

steroids is a big cause of injuries. body gets stronger than it can handle. look at pitchers who blowout their arm in a single pitch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve9ibKHe7Gk