On Griffey (and Sweeney)
by Jon ~ November 6th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Sweeney made Seattle’s DH spot one of the least productive in the league and their clubhouse the most cuddly. Both players would like to return to their 2009 roles, but it’s pretty obvious that the Mariners need a major upgrade if they want to take the next step. Griffey and Sweeney definitely improved morale in ’09, and that can only be seen as a good thing. I can’t comment on how much effect it had on the field, but it definitely contributed positively to making Seattle a place players want to stay and hopefully a place a few more free agents would like to play, which is also a very good thing.
The Mariners won’t be bringing back both guys, but there is a good chance at least one of them will come back.
Jim Street and C. Trent Rosecrans both reported yesterday that Griffey’s agent will be meeting with the Mariners in “the next few days” to discuss Griffey’s future with the team and the implication is that an announcement will be made sooner than later. This one probably won’t be dragging out until Spring Training like last offseason.
Griffey wants to come back and continue to be part of the franchise turnaround. He wants to be part of Seattle’s next playoff run with a chance to win his first World Series ring. That would be the storybook ending, but 2009 was a fitting end in itself. He came back “home,” got his nightly ovations and thank yous, produced a few exciting moments in a season that was a major turnaround for the franchise before riding off into the sunset on the shoulders of his teammates.
Do I want Griffey to come back? Not really. I’d like him to retire. But if Griffey wants to keep playing, I have to admit I’d rather see him continue his career in a Mariners uniform rather than somewhere else. If he ended his career in another city it would make 2009 seem like a waste in some ways. That said, could Griffey find a decent gig anywhere else? Is it Seattle or retirement?
If Griffey does come back he wouldn’t be the regular DH. He and the team would be best served if he served as Jack Wilson’s personal late inning pinch hitter, DHing once or twice per week. If he gets any more playing time than that he’s hindering the team’s ability to make the playoffs. That is, of course, if he’s playing at the same level in 2010 as he was in 2009. Maybe he continues to decline, maybe he gets himself into better shape and improves a bit.
If Griffey doesn’t return Sweeney might step in. Sweeney doesn’t have the sentimental connection, but in some ways he’d be the better fit if one of the guys is destined to return. He hit .281/.335/.442 last season, OPSing around 1.000 over the seasons final two months. He can run a little bit (compared to Junior). Based on the reports, he seemed to me to be a greater clubhouse influence than Griffey. He has no qualms with filling a small role. According to Street, Sweeney has yet to be contacted by the Mariners about a 2010 role.
If Griffey or Sweeney do return, I think a quality solution would be to re-sign Russell Branyan and another aging, injury prone 1B/DH type like Carlos Delgado, Nick Johnson or whoever else. Branyan and Delgado/Johnson/etc. can rotate between 1B and DH to stay fresh and healthy, with Griffey/Sweeney jumping in when one of them needs a day off.
15 Responses to On Griffey (and Sweeney)
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MarinerMan6
November 6th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Despite playing in a league with a DH there is no way the M’s should use 2 valuable roster spots on guys who cannot play anywhere in the field and are frankly not very good hitters anyways. Any combo of Branyan, Delgado, and Johnson would be ideal because all of them can play 1B while the other DH’s. Unless you have Prince Fielder or Ryan Howard pop, you can’t have a platoon DH on your roster. From a baseball standpoint neither Jr. nor Sweeney should return. I would rather see Carp in that spot because at least he can play some not awful defense at 1B.
Also with Hardy to the Twins I think we are stuck with Jack Wilson. This makes it even more imperative that the M’s upgrade 1B/DH or they will be worse than last year. In my perfect world the M’s resign Branyan and sign Nick Johnson and those guys rotate at DH and 1B. Then they sign 2 of Harden, Sheets, or Bedard, heck maybe even Randy Johson. All can be had with a incentive laden 1 year deal. Then obviously Jack Wilson at SS. That team I think could compete at the 85-90 win level with a little luck.
Mr.Benton
November 6th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Welcome them both back, one as a COACH, and one as a part-time player off the bench, and when he declines, he has a spot as a coach. That would be ideal.
Jon Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I really don’t think it’s as simple as that. Junior doesn’t seem like the coach type. If he’s not playing he’s going to be with his family, at least until his kids are grown. Sweeney is determined to find a playing job next year, Seattle or elsewhere.
maqman
November 6th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Junior had a better OBP (.324) than Beltre (.304) and Lopez (.303) and contributed 19 home runs and 63 RBIs – despite have a .214 batting average. Was maybe the greatest guy ever to wear a uniform, Ms or any other. He’s already left the stage in the best way possible and I just don’t hear a lot people shouting “Encore!”
gsquared
November 6th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Good post. Like you, I think that Sweeney would probably be a better fit for next year than Junior. Sweeney’s just got more left in the tank at this point.
Then there is the issue of salary. How little do you think Junior would be willing to take? Because it seems clear that we could get his production for free, and anything more is just paying for the brand name.
Jon Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Of course Griffey is overpaid from a production standpoint, but he does indeed bring in fans and sell merch, and some may even be inclined to try and put a dollar amount on keeping the clubhouse loose. It’s not like he’s getting $10M a year or something like that. In 2009 he was only guaranteed $2M. I’m not going to bother doing the math, but the incentive didn’t bring that salary up all that much.
gsquared Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
His final salary ended up at $3.15M.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4534201
By Fangraphs his value this year was $0.7M. Obviously we can’t quantify exactly how much of that salary he “made up for” through merch and additional ticket sales that wouldn’t have occurred without him, so there’s room for debate as to whether he was a financial net gain or loss for the M’s.
Where there’s not room for debate, though, is that he and Sweeney were a net loss on the field, requiring two roster spots to produce a combined 0.9 WAR.
Jon Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Yeah.. all I’m saying is that saving money isn’t really going to be part of the decision to bring him back.
gsquared Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Oh, understood. I’d imagine that they view bringing him back as a sort of “money-saving” measure; at least in terms of keeping certain quarters of the fanbase from turning away.
I think you bring up another interesting question: would any other team want him? I’m hard-pressed to think of one that would, and in that case can the worst-case PR scenario of Griffey on a different team next year even happen?
Jon Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Definitely puts the ball in Seattle’s court, doesn’t it? I’m thinking Seattle or retirement.
Tim B.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
As measured by OPS, Seattle’s designated hitters were not the least productive in the league–they were awful, more than 100 points behind New York and Toronto, but they came in 11th of 14. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/split/86/league/al/sort/OPS/order/true
Apart from that minor point, I fully agree with the entire post.
Jon Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Yeah, they were also ahead of the Royals, Tigers and Rays by wOBA. FanGraphs wasn’t working while I was writing this so I just went with it. Will change.
moethedog
November 6th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Let ‘em both go. I loved them this yeart (well…especially Sweeney), but let them go. Heck, Branyan’s back is no guarantee he can play a bunch of 1b. Sign him, keep Carp up, and sign a bargain FA guy, probably a Rh bat, who can still field some (anywhere). There’s your 1b/dh rotation.
Carp’s going to hit .280+ (perhaps in the .300 range), his OBP is going to be 370-ish+ and he’s goin to hit 30 doubles and a dozen taters. And he’s cheap. What’s not to like a whole bunch.
Invest in a LF and a starter….play Tui somewhere, and sign that FA bargain DH type of guy who can field somewhere.
section331
November 7th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I wouldn’t mind having Sweeney back, but I think having Griff back would take away from the sort of ‘farewell’ that happened at the last game – it would feel a little more hollow if he came back, a little less genuine, if that makes sense. With Sweeney, you get that whole snuggles thing with the bat, and also that way I don’t have to listen to another season of people talking about how they want Griffey to stay until 2011…
Jon Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Hit the nail on the head.