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Griffey agrees to 1-year deal with Mariners

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Ken Rosenthal

Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since August 2005. He appears weekly on MLB on FOX. Follow him on Twitter.

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Updated Nov 12, 2009 1:50 PM ET
     
 
Ken Griffey Jr. has agreed to a one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners.
The terms of the deal are similar to the incentive-based deal Griffey received in 2009. The 2009 contract was worth a base salary of $2 million with $1.1 million in incentives. "I'd like to thank the Mariners organization for inviting me back to play in 2010," Griffey said in a statement. "While 2009 was an awesome experience for me, my ultimate goal is for the Mariners to get to and win the World Series. To that end, I look forward to contributing in any role that Don sees fit on the field, and any manner I possibly can off the field." "The fact that Junior is ending up his career in Seattle is very special," Griffey's agent, Brian Goldberg, said. "He is willing to perform any role." 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. "He's open to anything," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said Wednesday. "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." After spending his first 11 seasons with Seattle, he played nine more with Cincinnati and the Chicago White Sox. Griffey returned to the Mariners this year under rookie manager Don Wakamatsu and almost single-handedly transformed what had been a fractured, bickering clubhouse with his leadership, energy and constant pranks. "He went beyond anything that I would have expected," Zduriencik said. Griffey turned formerly reclusive star Ichiro Suzuki into a smiling, joking teammate. He had neck ties made for road trips bearing Wakamatsu's likeness. He also had the Mariners wearing ties bearing his own likeness and the words "World's Greatest Teammate" for one midseason flight out of Seattle. "His influence, the presence he has — there are players on this ball club who are very excited to know they are going to be teammates again with Ken Griffey Jr.," Zduriencik said. The Mariners even carried Griffey off the field on their shoulders immediately following October's season finale. Seattle is convinced Griffey is healthy enough to contribute again next year — though he won't undergo a physical to formally close his new deal for a couple of more weeks, to give time for the knee to recover from surgery. "We believe that Ken's presence with the Seattle Mariners organization was such a positive asset last season with his leadership on and off the field," Zduriencik said. "His passion for baseball, life and the Seattle Mariners goes unsaid. We are happy to have Ken back for the 2010 season." Griffey — who will turn 40 on Nov. 21 — is fifth all-time with 630 career home runs and has made 13 All-Star teams. He was the American League MVP in 1997 with the Mariners. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Tagged: Mariners

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