Oct
30

No Love For Griffey

By | Contract Negotiation, MLB Players

3 Comments

Being one of the best players in Major League Baseball, Ken Griffey Jr. sure as heck did not feel like one on Tuesday when the Chicago White Sox decided not to pick up his option. (According to SI.com)

Playing only 41 games in Chicago after being traded from Cincinnati, Griffey now is out of a job. Rest assured, he will be picked up by someone.

In 41 games with the White Sox, Griffey scored 16 runs, had 34 hits, 3 home runs, and had a batting average of .260

In his career, Griffey has a combined batting average of .288 with 611 home runs.

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  • Nicholas Adams

    It is a difficult this to admit, but Griffey can probably no longer be considered one of the best players in the game. While he is clearly one of the best to ever play the game, he no longer holds such distinction. Perhaps most concerning, from the perspective of a Jr. fan, is his inability to hit lefties. The last time he showed any real success against left-handed pitching was in 2005 (.278/.352/.538). In 2006 he fell precipitously to (.204/.256/.415). In 2007, he showed slight improvement, “climbing” to (.236/.317/.419). This past season, he had a vital line of only (.202/.299/.350) against lefties. That being said, despite a steadily declining slugging percentage, he has remained quite successful against right-handers. Why is this so concerning? The idea of Ken Griffey Jr., the greatest player of the 1990′s, one of the best ever to play the game, as a platoon player is nearly unbearable.

    It was recently made public that he spent much of 2008 playing on a bad knee. The fan in me is clinging to hope that this ailment helps explain his sub-par statistics. The realist in me says otherwise. The injuries that have robbed him of the latter part of his career have also robbed fans the opportunity to see a legend in action. He was certainly not appreciated during his time in Cincinnati. Maybe a new team, in a new city, with (another) off-season to get healthy, is exactly what he needs. Where will he end up?

  • Cruz

    Is this the same guy who wrote about Garret Anderson a couple of days ago? Couldn’t most of your statements in that piece also apply here?

    In terms a relative valuations, if you don’t think Vlad is worth 15.5 million a year, how could you reasonably contend that Griffey is worth 16.5 a year?

  • http://www.sportsagentblog.com Dominic Perilli

    Cruz:

    Thank you for your comment. No where in my article did I state that Griffey was worth $16.5 million a year. I just simply put it that one of the most household baseball players in history is now without a job.

    -DP

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