Ken Griffey Jr. May Very Well Find Himself On An MLB Roster Come Spring
The Ken Griffey Jr. experiment wasn’t quite a rousing success on the South Side of Chicago this summer, but what were we to expect? Griffey is old now, and he’s been hobbled by a million and one injuries. It was fun to have one of baseball’s “good guys” around in a age of steroid-driven blind rage, even if it was fleeting and unsatisfying.
So is Griffey done for good now? It’s not looking like that at the moment. There are apparently five teams that have put feelers out to the man:
Five teams have shown interest in future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., his longtime agent Brian Goldberg said. According to Goldberg, three American League teams and two NL teams have expressed some level of interest. The Mariners and Rays are known to be two of the AL teams eyeing Griffey, who’d like to play at least one more season. Another friend of Griffey’s said last year that the all-time great would love to play for Tampa Bay, which is less than two hours from his Orlando home. Griffey always has been a dedicated family man, so the convenience would appeal to him.
Considering all things here, Griffey makes more sense on an AL team, so he can contribute with his bat in a DH role here and there and keep off the field at the same time. All his skills have clearly diminished, but there’s a reason the Reds moved him from center to right field a few season back: He’s become a bit of a defensive liabilty. If the Rays go after another younger bat, Seattle might be Junior’s swan song in his last year in the bigs.
And I’d think going home to where he was crowned king would be a nice little sendoff for baseball fans far and wide, no?
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I fail to understand why an AL team would not grab they guy. He wants to play and could DH most of the time.
His value clearly is a run at 700 home runs being a DH and being kept out of the field. He's never had that chance over time, not to be on defense and to strictly hit the ball.
Yes he's had injuries. He has had knee surgery and NEVER even mentioned it the entire last season with the reds. If you can't plant your leg, you can't hit the long ball. Now he can and especially if he is "babied" by not playing field.
What franchise would not benefit from the fans flocking in to see a guy have a run at 700 home runs. He's still no. 5 after 3 1/2 years of not even playing. I'd guess that after 650 home runs the seats would fill in any AL stadium. That's money for some team.
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