Ken Griffey Jr. Signs with Seattle Mariners for 2010 Season

Ken Griffey Jr. will return to the Seattle Mariners in 2010. Griffey decided to re-sign with the Seattle Mariners and play at least one more season in Major League Baseball. The decision to bring back Griffey was probably an easy one for Seattle management, as Griffey has returned to the status of being a fan favorite in Seattle due to his 2009 season. The agreement between Ken Griffey Jr. and the Seattle Mariners will be with a base salary of $2 million for the year with potential incentives that could make it worth more than $3 million for the year. Not a bad deal for Griffey, and it gives the Mariners a great clubhouse leader once again.

His 2010 season with the Seattle Mariners will be his 22nd year in Major League Baseball for Ken Griffey Jr. Last season for the Mariners, Griffey only hit .214 in the 117 games that he played, but he also hit 19 home runs and had 57 RBI's for the team. Though he only had limited playing time, Griffey also led the Mariners in walks for the season. His action was limited by a knee injury through the second half of the season, and that had caused many to assume that he would just retire from baseball. Now Griffey will be back for another season to help sell tickets for a very young Seattle Mariners team.

Ken Griffey Jr. is going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer when he retires from Major League Baseball, and many sports writers are now calling him the best player of an era that was tainted by many players that used steroids. During his career (so far) Ken Griffey Jr. has 630 home runs, 1,829 RBI, and 2,763 total hits. Those numbers rank him with the greatest players of all time, and his statistics also place him as the best Seattle Mariner of all time. Griffey has seen his career batting average drop in recent years, but he still has a lot to offer any team that he plays for in baseball.

The biggest thing that Ken Griffey Jr. has to offer is the veteran leadership that a team like the Seattle Mariners desperately needs. When they brought back Griffey and Mike Sweeney last season, the entire mood of the clubhouse changed, and it seemed like the Mariners were finally having fun again. Sure Griffey will be 40 years old in the 2010 season, but nobody is expecting him to 40 or more home runs. Griffey is destined to be a coach of some sort in an organization, and maybe a manager too. Until then, he is the perfect player to accentuate a young and developing Seattle Mariners team.

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Ken Griffey Jr. Signs with Mariners

Ken Griffey Jr. Career Stats