Come To Think of It...Griffey's Return to Mariners a Case of Misguided Nostalgia

"Glory days well they'll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days"
—Bruce Springsteen

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, a plane, a frog (a frog?). Why, it's Ken Griffey, Jr!

Yes, he once could leap tall outfield walls in a single bound, but that was a long, long time ago people. 

And many trips to the disabled list ago. 

We all know what a great baseball player Junior was in his prime. A prime which was unfortunately cut short by injuries.

But all the fanfare associated with his return to the Seattle Mariners is misplaced. Yes, Griffey signed a one year, $2M contract to return to the place where he started his big league career, so it's a sort of feel-good story.

But from a pure baseball perspective, it's not going to help turn the M's into contenders in the AL West.

For one, he's now 39 years old. He is not even an average outfielder any longer, much less spectacular.

Griffey has missed time with injuries to his shoulder, hamstring, quadriceps, ankle and foot. Then after he was traded to the Chicago White Sox last July, Griffey had arthroscopic knee surgery.

Not exactly a blueprint for continued success.

Despite all this, he has racked up an enormous home run total. Although no player deserves our trust, he is one of the few superstars who has avoided the cloud of steroid suspicion.

And, as recently as 2007 with the Reds, a healthy Junior hit 30 homers and drove in 93 RBI.

But he hit just .249 last year, albeit with a solid .353 OBP. He is expected to mostly DH, and he doesn't run anymore.

Oh, and the injuries - he has averaged just 105 games and 373 ABs over the past eight seasons.

And as for the feel-good aspect of the story, it is widely believed that Griff would have signed with the Braves had they matched Seattle's attendance bonuses, which could bring the total value of his contract up to $4M.

Remember, it's always about the money.

So, before you go making your World Series plans, I think you'd better remember one thing.

Junior is now a Senior, come to think of it.