Griffey back in Seattle?

If I could have one non-championship sport wish the next five years, this would be it:

• Now that Ken Griffey Jr. has filed for free agency, who needs a 39-year-old outfielder who has lost considerable range, suffered a substantial loss in production, and is prone to injury? The Mariners, of course. After losing 101 games despite having a $117 million payroll, Seattle desperately needs to rebuild. But Griffey would make sense, at the right price. For one thing, the team's return to contention appears to be a couple seasons away. The fan base realizes this -- but in the meantime, the return of Griffey would at least give them something to get excited about. And if he consented to a mostly DH role, he also might be able to stay healthy enough to hit 20-30 home runs while filling in occasionally in the outfield or at first base. In some ways, it would be a bit like the Mariners of the early '90s, when you had a couple exciting players and a potential ace (this time Griffey, Ichiro and Felix Hernandez, instead of Griffey, Edgar Martinez and Randy Johnson) to satisfy the fans while management builds the rest of the team around them. True, Griffey is way past his prime (and Ichiro isn't getting any younger), but Seattle fans deserve something fun to watch in return for their money. Plus, the starting rotation could -- cross your fingers and toes -- be pretty decent, perhaps even good enough that the Mariners might surprise people within a season or two. Again, it would have to be the right contract, but signing Griffey sure makes more sense than re-signing Willie Bloomquist.--copied from http://ping.fm/b31me

I will buy jerseys, hats, tickets, MLB.TV packages, whatever. This man created baseball in Seattle for me and will never, ever be forgotten.