Griffey Doesn’t Get Junior Deal

Ken Griffey Jr. agreed to a four-year, $34-million contract extension with the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday. The extension keeps Griffey in Seattle through 2000 and carries an average of $8.5 million per year, the highest ever.

The Seattle Mariner center fielder could have left as a free agent when his current four-year, $24-million contract expires after the 1996 season, for which he will be paid $7 million.

The highest current average is $7.29 million based on the $43.75 million that Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants is receiving in his six-year contract, which expires after the 1999 season.

Cecil Fielder of the Detroit Tigers is averaging $7.2 million in a five-year, $36-million contract that expires after the 1997 season.

Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox is averaging $7.19 million in a four-year, $28.75-million deal expiring after the 1998 season.

Including the $7 million he was paid in 1995 and will receive again this year, Griffey will be paid $48 million over a six-year period. However, Bonds will become the first player to receive an $8 million a year salary this season and will jump to $8.2 million in 1997 and $8.5 million in 1998.

Griffey will receive a $2.5-million signing bonus and yearly salaries of $7.25 million, $7.75 million, $8.25 million and $8.25 million.

Seattle officials said a considerable amount of that will be deferred, permitting the club to maintain a structured payroll in that period and retain key players.

Coming off their stunning victory in the American League West last year, the Mariners have parted with Mike Blowers, Tino Martinez, Andy Benes, Vince Coleman and Tim Belcher among others this winter, but club President Chuck Armstrong insisted that those moves weren’t made to clear money for Griffey. “We were only attempting to shape the most competitive club we could, and we feel we can be as competitive as we were in 1995,” Armstrong said.

He added that the agreement with Griffey represented a great day for Seattle, solidifying a commitment to the city and insuring that “baseball’s best player” will be in center field for the club when Seattle’s new ballpark opens in 1999.

Griffey said money was not the pivotal factor. He said the franchise has turned the corner competitively, he is comfortable in Seattle and that the key in remaining with the Mariners was a series of recent conversations with his father, Ken Griffey Sr., the former major leaguer.

“My dad said the money will be there wherever I go, but that no team will ever treat me like my first team, and that was the determining factor for me,” Griffey said. “I’m happy in Seattle and happy to have this out of the way. I didn’t want to go into spring training with any uncertainty.”