On Griffey Coming Back

OK – I’ve taken my shower, put in my contacts, thought about this a little bit, and I think I have some original things to say now (hopefully). Keep in mind, while I write this I’m going to be focusing a lot on not repeating everything that’s been said at Lookout Landing, so bear with me.

So Griffey’s coming back. He’s apparently getting pretty much the same salary he got in 2009, and doesn’t mind having a diminished role. That’s good, because he absolutely has to have a diminished role. Our worst-in-the-league DH production last season was one of our biggest, if not our biggest issues. If we want to contend next season, we have to improve on that – and I don’t see Griffey getting any better at this stage in his career. No, we’re going to have to go out and sign someone else – someone who can play consistently, and hit like a decent DH. Don’t worry guys – it’s not going to be Lyle Overbay. He’s not very good, he’s expensive, and we have both Mike Carp, and probably Russell Branyan. Those talks aren’t going to go anywhere.

This Griffey signing was definitely bitter sweet. Especially for those who, like me, love Junior, but care much more about this team winning than having him back for another season – and this isn’t much of a move when it comes to improving our chances of winning. This move was obviously more about team chemistry and happiness, and I can understand that, but this needs to be the only move we make that’s aimed at that more than improving the on-field product. Too many more of them, and we’ll probably end up with a team that’s doing karaoke in the dugout while they lose 18-0.

Now don’t get me wrong – Griffey isn’t going to be completely useless as a player. He can still draw walks, and he can still hit the long ball – he had 19 of them in 2009. Now, with another year added to that body’s age and a decrease in playing time, it’d be silly to expect him to hit anywhere near that many in 2010 – but he’ll still hit a few.

As for fixing this team’s holes…. this doesn’t do much. We still need a respectable DH, we still need to improve our rotation, and we still need to figure out what the hell we’re going to do about third base. All this means is that we’ve got a happier team, another minor role player, and one less roster spot to work with.