SEATTLE — Ken Griffey Jr. likes the offseason moves made by the Seattle Mariners so far — to the point he’s optimistically clearing his calendar late into the year.
“We’re going in the right direction,” Griffey said Sunday. “A couple of more wins, postseason, I don’t have anything planned until like early November. Hopefully we can have a lot of fun and continue on the path that we’re going.”
Griffey was back in town to raise the “12th Man Flag” before the Seattle Seahawks’ season finale against Tennessee. He spent a time during pregame on the field taking picture and visited with Titans running back Chris Johnson.
Griffey then ceremoniously raised the flag just before kickoff to arguably the loudest cheers inside the stadium this season.
After raising the ceremony, the slugger who is fifth on baseball’s all-time home run list with 611 said Mariners fans should be excited after the team traded for former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and signed free agent Chone Figgins away from the rival Los Angeles Angels.
In November, Griffey agreed to a one-year deal to return to Seattle in 2010 for his 22nd major league season.
“This is going to be fun to watch,” Griffey said, his first comments to local media since he re-signing was announced on Nov. 11. “The people of Seattle should be really excited about what’s going on.”
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 in 2009 and almost single-handedly transformed what had been a fractured, bickering clubhouse with his leadership, energy and constant pranks.
The deal Griffey signed to return as a 40-year-old calls for a $2.35 million base salary. Baseball’s active home run leader would earn $3.9 million if he again has at least 400 plate appearances, Seattle’s attendance tops 2.5 million and Griffey again does not go on the disabled list while remaining on the roster for the entire season.
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.
He’ll be an interested observer this upcoming week when the 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees are announced. Former Seattle teammate Edgar Martinez is on the ballot and his result could go be an indicator of if a player that was mostly a designated hitter will ever get into Cooperstown.
“He should go. There is no doubt in my mind. He is the dominant DH,” Griffey said. “He’s a baseball player. It doesn’t matter that he’s a DH, you still have to go out and do your job and he did it at the highest level than anybody for 10, 15 years.”
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