Outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. has signed a 1 year deal with the Seattle Mariners.  The deal is said to be similar to his 2009 deal where he had a base salary of $2 million in addition to $1.15 million in incentives.  Most of the incentives were based on attendance figures.  In 2009, Griffey hit 19 home runs, drove in 57 runs, but hit .214.

The Mariner’s play on this decision is largely attendance based.  They figure having Griffey on the roster will bring in more fans.  They have franchise names such as Ichiro Suzuki and Felix Hernandez, but the $3 million per year for Griffey is a steal to get a few more people through the gates, to buy their concessions and their souvenirs.  They drew almost 2.2 million people to Safeco Park in 2009.  A small decrease from the 2.3 million that attended in 2008, but that was largely based on the poor economy.  They figure the return on investment with Griffey will outweigh the $3 million.