Junior's mint

Sporting News, The, Feb 19, 1996 by Mike Bass

Ken Griffey will report to Peoria, Ariz., next week as baseball's highest-paid player and the cornerstone of more Mariners teams to come. Nevertheless, some people in Cincinnati now wonder what might have been. If the Reds hadn't passed over his father for a coaching job, then there's a good chance Junior, the outfielder from Cincinnati's Moeller High, would not have signed his recent $34-million, four-year contract extension. Instead, he might have come home a free agent in 1997

"I don't want to say it was the end-all to be-all," says Brian Goldberg, Griffey's agent. "But if (Manager) Ray Knight had hired Ken Sr. as a coach -- or at least called Senior, as he promised he would -- I'm sure Ken Jr. was much more likely to play out the season and then weigh his options after that as opposed to signing an extension now."

Knight reportedly had decided not to add Griffey Sr. to his new Reds staff, so the former Big Red Mackine cog, who still lives in the Cincinnati area, joined Don Baylor's Colorado coaching staff.

As for Griffey Jr., the only way he will see the National League is through interleague play in 1997 -- or, of course, if the Mariners take that next big postseason step.

The All-Star discussed this year's modified Mariners, his signing, the Indians and other subjects with TSN correspondent Mike Bass, a columnist for the Cincinnati Post.

TSN: How important was it to you to play on a winner?

Griffey: If I'd went through free agency, no matter where I went, there was no guarantee of me being on a contender. That's the bottom fine. We've won our first division championship, and I'd like to win another one and eventually get to the big one and win that.

Q: Was part of you curious to try free agency?

A: Yeah, like any other ballplayer. Everyone's curious about playing in a different stadium, in a different uniform. I still had a year left, so a lot of people thought because I didn't go free agent, I didn't explore other options. At the morning paper there (The Cincinnati Enquirer), the two guys (columnists Tim Sullivan and Paul Daugherty) ripped me. One thing that hurt me was, they said something about my dad, that not even Marge is that dumb to hire him just to get me. How many negative things have you heard about my dad in baseball? Nineteen years in the big leagues, and a newspaper is just ripping him. All he wants to do is help out players to get where he has been. There was a headline that I didn't want to come there, anyway, that I just wanted to boost up my price. I'm not like that I didn't say, "Pay me this much, or I'm going somewhere else." The Mariners broke down the contract the way they wanted to, and that was it. There were no arguments. I wanted to make sure there could be enough money available to make sure they had the opportunity to get more players if they wanted to.

Q: So the Mariners wanted it structured this way?

A: They're the ones who said, "This is the way we want to do it." It's still not set in stone on the whole contract.

Q: What things aren't set in stone?

A: We can wait more years before they pay the deferment. And I'd be willing to increase the deferment and lower my annual salary.

Q: Were you concerned when you saw some of your teammates going, such as Tino Martinez and Mike Blowers?

A: Yeah, because those guys are good players, and it was tough. Anytime you lose teammates like that who drive in 200 runs and hit 50 homers, you wonder what's going on. But we kept Norm Charlton, and we got Mike Jackson and Luis Polonia and Russ Davis. I didn't know too much about all those guys, but from what people say, Davis can be equal or better than Blowers and is (four) years younger.

Q: Were you worried your contract would keep your team from being able to afford to build a winner, especially in a small market such as Seattle?

A: My contract is spread over nine years. It's not that I get $8.5 million a year. I've deferred some of that money for four years after the contract.

Q: With a new stadium planned for 1999, won't that help pay those deferred payments -- and give the team plenty of money to afford other players?

A: Yeah. Look at the Cleveland situation, Toronto, Baltimore, Texas. Those cities also have all changed through the new stadiums. Going to Cleveland was like the worst trip of the year. Now, it's one of the better trips. You dreaded going downtown when you were in Cleveland. You couldn't wait for the three or four days to be over. Now, you can't wait to get there. You've got the new stadium, you've got all the shopping around downtown, and the city has cleaned up a lot. And as for the team, look at Cleveland now. Jack McDowen, Jose Mesa, Kenny Lofton, Albert Belle, Omar Vizquel, Jim Thome. Because of the money from the stadium, they've been able to keep those guys. Orel Hershiser, Eddie Murray, Carlos Baerga. That is unreal. That is as close to being Cincinnati in '75 and '76 as any team can ever get to.

Q: Are you 100 percent now after the broken wrist?

A: I'm getting there. The movement's almost there. I've been working out. I still have a little swelling in the wrist. All in all, I feel better with the plate and screws out than when they were in there. There's a lot more movement.