Continuing our “What Went Wrong” series looking at some of the various issues that have plagued this team thus far in the 2010 season, today we’ll be looking at the mess that has become the situation involving Ken Griffey, Jr.

When Junior was signed prior to the 2009 season, the general reaction around the Mariners’ fanbase was a happy one.  He was, after all, an icon, and likely the best player the Mariners had ever seen.  He couldn’t really play the field any more after a long series of leg injuries ever since he left Seattle, but the thought was that he could stabilize the DH position a bit, if only for a year.  Age reared it’s ugly head during stretches of the year, and his knee gave Griffey problems on and off throughout the season.  In the end, however, he had a relatively productive season and was triumphantly carried off the field by his teammates, and into the sunset.

Or so we thought. 

Griffey was quickly signed to a new contract in the offseason (on Veteran’s Day as it appropriately happened to be), and one that was actually worth slightly more than the contract he’d received for 2009.  The stated intention from his use was to be as a part-time player mainly there to be a leader in the clubhouse, but no real DH was ever acquired and it quickly became apparent through the use of both Griffey and Milton Bradley during Spring Training that he would be relied on much the same as he was last year.  The only problem was, Spring Training showed a very different Ken Griffey, Jr. than we were used to seeing.  Even compared to last season, he looked very old and very slow.  As the season started and progressed, it quickly became apparent that Griffey was, for all intents and purposes, done as a major league ballplayer.

Griffey’s bat speed is, essentially, gone.  He can’t catch up to a major league fastball any longer, and he can’t adjust to breaking pitches either, leaving him flailing far too often.  As the primary DH against right-handed pitchers, this left the team at a severe disadvantage, especially when he was placed as high up in the order as fourth or fifth as he was so frequently in the first month-plus of the season.

To take a more analytical look at the situation only makes things look slightly bleaker.  One could easily dismiss his struggles as an aberration, an early-season slump.  However, his batting average on balls in play is actually slightly higher than it was at the end of last season (.222 against .220 in 2009), and ZiPS only projects him to have a rate of .234 the rest of the season.  His walk rate is way down (8.4%, down from 13.9%), and his power is basically non-existant (ISO of .021, having hit just two doubles in 107 PA’s).  His line drive rate is down slightly, and his infield fly ball rate (otherwise known as a pop-up, and an automatic out) is way up, currently at almost twice his career rate.  Add all of those depressing numbers to the even more depressing results of eyeball scouting, and the painting created is a very dark one indeed.

The whole “Napgate” incident hasn’t helped matters any.  If anything, it showed that Griffey’s supposed main role on the team, that of clubhouse leader, is one that has become a failure in the 2010 season.  If he was being an effective leader, there would have been no way that two young players would have mentioned the issue to reporters.  I’m sure they still respect and admire the player that Griffey once was, but they seem to have little such feeling for who he is now.  What’s worse is that the incident seemed to create a temporary divide in the clubhouse, with Mike Sweeney apparently issuing an open challenge during a team meeting for the two responsible players to fight him over the issue.

So, who’s to blame in all this?  Frankly, there’s a fair amount to be spread around.  One could argue that Jack Zduriencik should never have signed Griffey for the 2010 season, but that’s a harder point to carry all the way through.  On a winning team, as the team was hoped to be, having a leader on the bench like Griffey who could be given the odd start at DH and paraded out for the fans on promotional nights is a boon for any club.  But on a team struggling to compete that cannot afford any holes in it’s lineup?  On a team with multiple health risks among players being relied on to contribute, thus needing as much bench flexibility as possible?  If he cannot contribute, it creates a huge liability for the team, and he has not been able to contribute.  Don Wakamatsu deserves a fair bit of the blame, mostly for being so stubborn about relying on Griffey so much early in the season.  He has, however, finally relented in his reliance on the old veteran, moving to a configuration that places Milton Bradley at DH against right-handed pitchers and uses Michael Saunders out in left on those days, leaving Griffey on the bench.

Arguably the most blame seems to lie with Ken Griffey, Jr. himself.  He has to be able to see that things have eroded and are eroding very quickly for him, yet in the offseason he made a number of comments indicating he wanted to keep playing past 2010, and even repeated those sentiments just the other day.  He’s never been the most modest player in the major leagues, but at this point to see what’s been going on this season and think that he can contribute more in future seasons is simply hallucinatory.  He had the perfect opportunity to end his magnificent career on a high note when he was carried off the field in victory at the end of 2009, but his stubbornness has only served to tarnish his legacy.

While many have called for the release of Griffey, that is likely the wrong solution to the situation at hand.  Yes, he has performed terribly, to say the least (he’s been worth nearly a full win below replacement level, and we’re only a quarter of the way through the season), but he is a franchise icon and still beloved by much of the fan base.  To release him would create a horrific backlash from the fans, and that’s not what the organization needs right now. The more elegant solution would be to place Griffey on the 60-day disabled list, citing his ongoing knee and leg issues, and replace him with a player who can help the team going forward.  That would allow Griffey to stay with the team, keep his face in the dugout, and let him still be a leader for the team and an icon for the fans.

Either way, we seem to have seen the last of Ken Griffey, Jr. as the icon he once was.  And that is a very sad thing, indeed.