Griffey stays with Mariners for 2010
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Thursday, November 12, 2009; 1:38 AM
SEATTLE -- Junior's back in Seattle, one more time.
Ken Griffey Jr. and the Mariners agreed Wednesday to another one-year contract that will keep the popular player in town for what could be his final season.
Griffey, who turns 40 on Nov. 21, was guaranteed $2 million when he signed to return to Seattle for the 2009 season and had the chance to earn more in bonuses.
"The framework of this year's contract is similar to last year's," Griffey's agent, Brian Goldberg, said by telephone.
It is believed Griffey will get a slightly higher base salary, with fewer incentives based upon plate appearances and Mariners home attendance. He earned $1.15 million of a possible $3 million in bonuses from this year's contract.
He is likely to again be a part-time designated hitter in his 22nd major league season since he broke in as a grinning Mariners teenager.
"The fact that Junior is ending up his career in Seattle is very special," Goldberg said. "He is willing to perform any role."
Griffey figures to again be the leader of a rising team that last season became the 13th club since 1901 to finish with a winning record the year after losing 100 games.
"He's open to anything," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said in a telephone interview from baseball's GM meetings in Chicago. "What he said was, `I'd like to be a part of this. Hey, I'm the part of a 25-man club. Let the pieces fall where they may ... let the manager make the decisions.' It's a real bonus to have him back."
A 10-time All-Star and the 1997 AL MVP for the Mariners, Griffey hit .214 last season with 19 homers as a part-time DH. He was limited by a swollen left knee that required a second operation in as many offseasons last month.
Griffey is No. 5 on the career home run list with 630. He said in October he would like to return if the Mariners wanted him, then never filed for free agency. He again considered staying home in Orlando, Fla., to be with his wife and three, school-aged children.
After spending his first 11 seasons with Seattle and becoming a star, he played nine more with Cincinnati and the Chicago White Sox. Griffey returned to the Mariners this year and almost single-handedly transformed what had been a fractured, bickering clubhouse with his leadership, energy and constant pranks.
