Seattle Mariners, 2008, RIP

Last year, the Seattle Mariners were one August road losing streak away from making the playoffs. The bats were hot, and the bullpen was phenomenal. The notable missing piece was in the starting pitching. On top of that, both Jose Lopez and Richie Sexson seemed to be having an ‘off’ season.

The offseason moves appeared to address the pitching problems. The regulars came back, Richie was certain to return to his old self, Jose was another older, and several months removed from his brother’s tragic death. It took guts to trade away the new phenom Adam Jones, but seemed worth it. With a true #1 starting pitcher, the playoffs seemed certain.

Now that the Mariner’s have lost their way to the bottom of the Major Leagues, even a .500 season seems preposterous. No one seems to know what’s wrong. Does it have something to do with John McLaren? Is he too much the ‘player’s manager?’ Were last year’s hot bats a fluke? What’s wrong with our pitching and defense?

Now there are rumors of a trade for the much beloved Ken Griffey Jr. Yes, Seattle loves Junior. Yes, I can imagine a situation where he would help the team. I can not imagine, however, a way that he can help us salvage the season right now. As a player, he is injury prone and in the waning years of his career. He is simply in no position to provide the kind of clubhouse leadership that’s been lacking since... probably since Brett Boone’s career jumped the shark. Trading any kind of valued prospect for Junior would be a serious mistake. In fact, I don’t think adding him back to the roster at all is a good idea.

Let him take the route of the Sheriff, Norm Charlton: after he retires he can come back as a hitting coach. That would put the feel-good bookend to Junior’s career that we’d all like to see.