One more year ...for Ken Griffey, Jr.

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Remember Ken Griffey Jr. when he was that young stud with the sweet swing and the guy that seemingly made every amazing catch in center field?

Yes, that was about 15-20 years ago when Griffey was first beginning to make a name for himself in the Majors.

Well, while Griffey's skills have diminished over the years -- as they should -- he's still hanging around after agreeing to a one-year deal with the Seattle Mariners.

Good for Griffey.

The game used to be about him, putting on a show for the fans with his head-scratching skills, but now Griffey is a reserve player that's more like a coach.

His leadership and passion to help the younger players is why the Mariners had no issues with bringing him back at a bargain basement price of a base salary of $2 million.

Griffey, who has 630 career home runs, 1,829 RBIs and a .285 average, has been a joy to watch over the years.

I don't remember the 2009 version of Griffey as a .214 hitter with 19 home runs, I remember the Seattle days of back-to-back 56 HR seasons (in 1997-98) and seven 40-plus HR seasons in the first 12 years.

Those were the days for Griffey, and then injuries broke him down after his first season with the Reds (he never should have left Seattle, either).

The production has tapered way off, but Griffey's still got that sweet left-handed swing that every father wants their kid to have.

If you're in the 30-plus age group, I'm willing to bet a Griffey poster hung somewhere on your wall, or you wanted to be just like him growing up on the baseball diamond.

Griffey's no doubt a first-ballot Hall of Famer. And if you want to show your kid what a left-handed swing should look like, just watch a Seattle Mariners game this season.

One more year and it may be retirement time for Griffey.

Either way, it's been a great career for Ken Griffey, Jr.

It's V-Mart Over V-Tek

By Rick Eggleston
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

With the baseball season coming to its official close on the field following the Yankees’ impressive six-game drubbing of the Phillies — so much for picking Philly — all eyes turn to MLB's general managers meetings in Chicago.

Not surprisingly, the Red Sox arrived in Chi-Town this week with their own issues. At the top of their list is veteran catcher Jason Varitek, who has until midnight tonight to decide whether to exercise his $3 million player option after the team announced that it wouldn’t pick up his $5 million team option. That’s because they wisely picked up last season’s mid-year acquisition — and Varitek replacement — catcher Victor Martinez’ $7.1 million team option instead.

While working out a long-term deal with Martinez has yet to be discussed, the Red Sox would be smart to get something done soon. Martinez, whose .303 average, 23 homers and 108 RBI ranked him among the team’s offensive leaders, is the Sox’ catcher of now and for the future. Varitek, on the other hand, is yesterday’s news.

Should Varitek, who’s coming off a career-worst season at the plate where he finished with a .209 average, activate his player option, he’d become a $3 million backup catcher for the Sox. Not a bad payday for guy whose skills both defensively and offensively have deteriorated in recent years. Thus, Varitek’s value has decreased, and he would be hard-pressed to do any better in free agency.

The exact opposite remains true for Martinez, who if he’s permitted to reach free agency if the Sox don’t hammer out something with the former Indians backstop soon, will be able to command top dollar on the open market. Whether he elects to do that is entirely up to the Sox, who certainly possess the resources to get him to stay.

Then again, Martinez could play hardball and choose to test the waters himself no matter what the Sox offer. Hopefully, this won’t be the case for the mere fact Scott Boras isn’t Martinez’s agent.