In continuing with Slog’s all-inclusive coverage of the Mariners and everything else in the MLB and other sports universes, we join in some speculation whose validity we cannot gauge due to the fact our full-time sports reporter is out on an all-day drunk.
What’s the deal with Ken Griffey Jr.? Larry LaRue of The News Tribune thinks his days are numbered:
Junior wanted one more year, the Mariners thought it might work and gave it to him. And now, less than 35 games in the 2010 season, Griffey is in his final days as a player.
He could lose his job as the left-handed designated hitter within the week. He might lose his position on the 25-man roster nearly as soon. If you want to see Griffey in a Seattle uniform again, watch him on television this week. […]
Last week, when some members of the press corps asked manager Don Wakamatsu why he hadn’t used Griffey as a pinch hitter for Rob Johnson late in a game, Wakamatsu was vague.
Two Mariners players, however, weren’t. Both are younger players, fond of Griffey. Neither had an ax to grind.
So why didn’t Wakamatsu go to Junior off the bench?
“He was asleep in the clubhouse,” one player said. “He’d gone back about the fifth inning to get a jacket and didn’t come back. I went back in about the seventh inning — and he was in his chair, sound asleep.”
The other player, who knows Griffey a little better, tried to rationalize.
“He doesn’t sleep well at night, he’s away from his family, he’s comfortable in the clubhouse,” he said. “They could have awakened him …”
If they want to sell more tickets by winning more games, they’ll ditch him and bring in someone who actually contributes. If they want to sell more tickets by holding additional bobblehead giveaway nights, they’ll keep him. At this point I feel like it could go either way. Irrational Griffey love is a force to be reckoned with in this city.
To all Seattle “urbanites”.
Please, when we’re all rushing down stairs to catch a Sounder that’s about to leave in 2 minutes, feel free to pause on the step, and look around at the tracks. Then take out your camera and snap some pictures. Also, be sure to stand 2 abreast, so no one can get to the train.
This has been your Seattle Urban Minute!
Honestly, this was way overdue.
I’m a fan of Griffey from my childhood, but I’m a fan of my team winning more, and Jr. is holding us back.
If the M’s have any foresight, they’ll get rid of Jr. (hopefully he goes out gracefully by retiring, but they need him out even if he doesn’t want to leave), then give Bradley the DH spot.
And yea, the nap looks bad from the outside, but Lookout Landing has a good post about why it’s not that big a deal. http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2010/5/10/…
I have no problem getting rid of him, but who do you replace him with? Its not like we’ve got this huge stash of sluggers waiting to be brought up from the minors.
The naps would be fine if he could still hit. Shannon Dreyer has a post explaining that Junior has done the nap thing for most of his career. http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=374&sid=3192…
#4, even a AAA replacement-level hitter would hit more than Jr. has this month.
At least the Sounders gave refunds when they had a poor game showing …
What’s the deal with people whose last names fit the pattern XriXXey?!
Compare to Grant’s “holding down the fort” at the Stranger “clubhouse” over the holidays. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!!!
Yeah let’s kick Griffey to the curb who’s batting .208 so Mike Sweeny can get more time at DH. After all Sweeney is batting .176
Man, this LaRue guy and whoever these chickenshit young players are assholes for embarrassing the team’s first Hall of Famer (at least, the first to likely go in wearing an Ms uniform) like this. The team’s not going anywhere this season, and outside of Ichiro, who’s the marketing angle this season besides Griffey? He most likely was going to bow out by summer if he just kept whiffing, just like Sweeney is likely to get released soon enough, so what’s the point in humiliating him?
This whole nap-taking business makes me like him even more. He’s just like me!
The real shame is not in cutting Sweeney and Griffey – the opportunity cost is in moves that were not made by the logjam that Griffey created at the DH position over the winter.
The rest of the season will still be interesting – with Bedard back the M’s may have one of the most outstanding pitching staffs in the league. Hopefully the rest of the lineup will start hitting a bit and make June and July worth watching.