Ken Griffey Jr. to return to Seattle

Ken Griffey, Jr. has agreed to a one year deal with the Seattle Mariners, bringing him back to the team with which he broke in to the majors and began his Hall of Fame career.  The free agent had narrowed down his choices to the Mariners and the Atlanta Braves, but ultimately decided to head back to the Pacific Northwest after several days of deliberation.

The Braves had a lot to offer, with Griffey receiving an enthusiastic lobbying effort from manager Bobby Cox and third baseman Chipper Jones.  Obviously Atlanta is also much closer to Griffey’s home in Orlando, Florida.  Griffey gave the decision between the two teams a lot of consideration, even discussing it with icons like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.  Ultimately, it was the input of these legends that helped him decide according to Griffey’s agent Brian Goldberg:

"Willie hit on it a little harder, but they both said, 'You have to do what you want to do’ They told him, 'You might have to make some short-term sacrifices. But the bottom line is, 'Go by how you want to be remembered for the next 50 years after you're done.'"

Griffey’s teenage daughter Taryn  also lobbied for his return to “The Jet City” according to Goldberg:

"She told him, 'Dad, I really think you should go back to the Mariners and not have any regrets about how you finished.’ That kind of put it over the top."

When you’ve been banking seven and eight figure checks for as long as Griffey, clearly money isn’t a big consideration but reports indicate that the offers tendered by both the Braves and M’s were comparable financially.  Ultimately, Griffey opted for his deeper roots in Seattle—where he’s still very popular in the community—over the more austere fan environment in Atlanta where he’d be just another superstar athlete in a city full of them.   The reaction of the fans and media in Seattle definitely validates his decision—the headline on the front page of Thursday’s Seattle Times newspaper read “THE KID COMES HOME”. 

Mariners’ team President Chuck Armstrong—with whom Griffey has been close since his rookie year—was the first person to hear the news and summed it up thusly:

"I am elated. The icon of the Seattle Mariners' franchise is coming back to Safeco Field where he belongs. It's just wonderful."

Armstrong has in the past indicated that Griffey would have a front office job waiting should he want one after his playing days are over.  Griffey would have almost certainly entered the Hall of Fame as a Mariner in any circumstance, and his return to Seattle makes it all the more likely.