Ken Griffey Jr.: The Man, The Mariner?, The Brave?

Ken Griffey Jr., the hitter formerly known as the Kid.

He's entering his 20th MLB season. Of the 19 previous, 10 with the Mariners, eight-and-a-half with the Reds, and half of a season with the White Sox.

This is the guy who could have been approaching his 800th home run this season.

Instead, he's approaching either his former team, the Mariners, or the Braves.

The logical fit: the Braves. 

He lives in Orlando, Florida, about 20 minutes away from the Braves' Spring Training Facility at the Disney Wide World of Sports, and is only a one-hour flight from Turner Field.

With the short flight, he would be able to make his son's varsity football games in Orlando, and while in Georgia, he would be able to attend his daughter's AAU basketball games in Norcross.

Griffey would also be put in a position where he could succeed.

In Atlanta, Griffey would more than likely be asked to platoon with Matt Diaz. Griffey can still hit righties. In 327 at-bats last year against them, he had 89 hits (.272) and 14 of his 18 home runs.

Combine his better stats with more rest and you have a very suitable platoon partner for Matt Diaz.

The sentimental fit: the Mariners.

How fitting would a return to the Mariners be to end his career?

He would return to the team where he broke in and become either the left fielder or DH (probably more playing time than he would get with the Braves, in other words). 

Jr. would find himself on a team with Ichiro, Adrian Beltre, Erik Bedard, and King Felix that is trying to figure itself out and become an instant leader and (once again) a face of the franchise.

Either way...

The team that ends up with him gets a guy that's going to bring people to the ballpark.

Regardless of what numbers he may put up, Jr. is still a favorite of many fans and still has that aura about him that says, "I play the right way and I love this game."

Also, the consolation of this race is Garret Anderson, so either team and its fans should be content with the fact that second place isn't that much of a drop-off.

My prediction: Braves.

He's always said that he wants to play for the Braves, and with geography and health both being factors, the Braves just make too much sense for him to deny them.

So Griffey, what number do you want? 3, 30, and 17 are all taken, but I'm sure we'll have something you'll like.