Two-year deal. Details forthcoming.

Jeff's update: $10m, 2 years. I think I said everything I have to say about Wilson the other day, so the bottom line is that this is a great deal in a vacuum and still a pretty good deal for a team in our situation. The shortstop hole has been plugged without our having to make any sort of potentially debilitating commitment. Onward to solving the team's other problems. Call Felix!

Via Yahoo!:

"We believe that Ken’s presence with the Seattle Mariners organization was such a positive asset last season with his leadership on and off the field," general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "His passion for baseball, life and the Seattle Mariners goes unsaid. We are happy to have Ken back for the 2010 season."

When Z traded for Jack Wilson and Ian Snell, he talked about their skills.

When Z traded for Franklin Gutierrez and the rest of them, he talked about their skills.

When Z signed Russell Branyan, he talked about his skills.

When Z traded for David Aardsma, he talked about his skills.

When Z re-signed Griffey for 2010, he talked about his leadership and passion.

Let there be no doubt that this is all about the clubhouse.

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So by now you may have heard that Griffey's coming back. He had such a good time last season that he's agreed to accept a lesser role in exchange for the opportunity to do it all over again in 2010, and the contract he's getting - according to Jerry Crasnick - will again have a low base with a bunch of incentives. The more things change, and so forth.

What this isn't is a baseball move. Or at least, what this isn't is a baseball move intended to improve the team's chances of winning on paper. For one thing, Griffey's coming on as a bench player. Bench players seldom make any kind of significant difference. And for another, let's face it - Griffey isn't good. Not adjusting for park, he has a .330 wOBA over the last two seasons and a .336 wOBA over the last four, offensive performances turned in either as a DH or as a DH-level defender. He's totaled 0.3 WAR since 2006 and, due to the failures of science, he's only getting older. People will argue that there's upside here, that Griffey will hit better now that he's gotten his knee fixed up, but there's no reason to believe them. Griffey's only statistical upside is luck. In terms of true talent, he is essentially a replacement-level player.

What this is, then, is an acknowledgment on the front office's part of the effect of Griffey's presence. This is a pure chemistry move. There's no other way around it. The front office is smart enough to know that Griffey can't contribute much in the box scores anymore, so their decision to bring him back anyway shows that they believe he makes the team work better together just by being himself. Which, well, we can't prove one way or the other. The rational thing to do is to doubt the significance of any effect until it's proven, and with that in mind the return of Griffey is at best inefficient, but on the other hand it's really really hard to argue against anything that makes Ichiro smile so damn much. Throw in the fact that this can only help with the Felix negotiations and I can't bring myself to be that disappointed. Maybe it's because I figured this was going to happen all along. But I see enough potential justification for this move that I don't feel so bad about it.

Dave has already run down what this means for the roster. Things change if the team decides to carry a six-man bullpen (or if, y'know, trades), but for now I'd hold off on purchasing any Langerhans apparel. That sucks. Ryan Langerhans is awesome. But...hey, Griffey, all right. Now that this is out of the way, here's to the front office focusing on the moves that will actually make a big difference.

Well that actually did not take very long. Larry Stone is reporting that Griffey will return to the Mariners in 2010 on a one year contract. No word yet on the terms or expectations, but um... well... it's sort of weird after the send-off this last October. Will they do the same thing at the end of 2010? Awkward.

A few things I missed over the afternoon...

• Russell Branyan has rejected a one-year offer from the Mariners, a one-year offer that, via Larry Stone, included a 2011 option. Branyan says that, while he'd love to stay in Seattle, he's holding out for a multiyear deal that gives him some semblance of stability, a goal that makes a lot of sense when you consider that he and his wife just had another kid. He's tired of moving around.
  
  I feel for him. Branyan's never deserved to be the nomad sort, and after a career year, this is as good a time as any for him to sell himself as more than a one-year solution. Unfortunately, though, Branyan's a guy who's never drawn a big offer, settling with the Mariners last winter for $1.4m/1yr, and while you'd think the 31 homers would bump up his value, those were largely offset by his back trouble, which threatens to linger for the rest of his days. If Branyan had stayed healthy all season, he'd probably be looking at at least, I dunno, $12m/2yr. But he missed a quarter of the team's games with his injury and at 34, with that back, 2+ years just isn't very likely.
  
  I'd expect Branyan to re-sign with the Mariners. I wouldn't, however, expect him to return on a guaranteed multiyear deal. 2010 with a 2011 option that vests with a certain number of plate appearances is probably the best he'll be able to do.


• From the same Pravda article, Jack Wilson has rejected the Mariners' initial multiyear offer. Anybody that listened to Jack and Tony talk after the Wilson acquisition knows that the organization absolutely loves him and would be delighted to have him stick around for another few years, but apparently it's going to take a little more than was offered. Which, hey, this is how negotiations work. The guy who goes in and proposes what he considers the most fair deal first is the guy who never gets a fair deal. I'd expect this one to end up somewhere around where Branyan would've wound up were it not for the bad back.


• Shannon Drayer has a post up detailing a conversation she had with Alan Nero, Felix's agent. We've all been freaking out about the lack of communication between parties, but reading Nero's quotes is reassuring - he continues to emphasize that there's no hurry, and that there isn't any writing on the wall for the rest of us to interpret. The organization has assured Nero that it will put something together, and though Felix may prefer a little more of a hands-on approach, Felix has put his trust in his agent and has admitted as much, meaning the lack of dialogue so far may not actually hurt us at all.
  
  These quotes from Nero and Zduriencik over the past few days have breathed new life into my optimism that something's going to get done. There's obviously a little more urgency here than Nero is going to let on, but with Felix's side being willing and Z sounding determined, this should be doable. Six years, and figure out the money. It really is as simple as that.

In this post, Olney introduces the idea of John Lackey joining the Mariners. Exciting! Lackey is great and would help restore some of the team smelliness we lost with the departure of Justin Thomas. Here is the phrasing Olney used in delivering his point:

• Seattle could land Lackey
• potential sleeper team
• timing is right
• Lackey might find the Mariners attractive
• Mariners...appear to have the financial room

Per usual, there's no actual tie in there, and not even any anonymous sourcing. Olney just wrote about a couple reasons why the Mariners may choose to get involved, which is a post you could write about any team in baseball. "A's may seek veteran workhorse to lead stable of talented ponies." "Rays could make splash in effort to keep up with beasts of the East." "Marlins considering uncharacteristic acquistion of Major League pitcher." It's a post that takes time to say nothing, and while I get that this is part of Olney's job, and while nothing he says is actually incorrect, it's important to realize that Olney's post didn't tell us anything we didn't already know.

Honestly, the Mariners probably will get involved in the Lackey talks. It will last all of one phone call.

Mariners: We would like to offer your client $X.
Lackey's Agent: My client would like $Y.
Mariners: Your client smells.
Lackey's Agent: You smell.

It would be irresponsible of the M's not to at least find out Lackey's asking price, but as the prize of the free agent market, Lackey's going to command a lot of money, money that should be going to another, better starting pitcher the Mariners already have. In the event that Zduriencik and Nero can't agree to anything and Felix gets traded, I could see Z displaying more interest, but even then, Lackey's a 31 year old who's probably looking at a big five- or six-year contract, and I don't see the Mariners trying to compete with that kind of offer.

John Lackey is a neat idea. But he's a neat idea for every team in baseball, some of whom have more money, a more aggressive general manager, or more money and a more aggressive general manager. Don't get your hopes up.

Dejan Kovacevic link, as mentioned in the comments:

Jack Wilson, the Pirates' shortstop most of this decade, is discussing a multiyear extension with Seattle that would keep him from becoming a free agent.

The Mariners are believed to have offered a two-year contract worth more than the two-year offer the Pirates made Wilson -- $8 million -- shortly before trading him July 29.

I don't know if JJ Hardy was ever on Z's radar, but now that he's off the table, Wilson's about as good a shortstop as this team's going to be able to get without surrendering something(s) of considerable value. So, rather predictably, the M's are seeing if they can extend him for a couple years for something below the $8.4m price of his 2010 option. While Kovacevic doesn't give us a number, mentioning only that it's worth more than $8m (total, not per year), I can't imagine Z would go beyond $10-12m, so that should be in the ballpark. Which...well, it's not amazing, but Wilson's a perfectly legitimate everyday shortstop, and Kenji Johjima's return home helped alleviate the budget problem a little bit. So provided Wilson re-signs for a reasonable price, which is the likelihood, then all things considered I'll be happy with it. Yay defense, and all that.

Not a whole lot to say on this, but Dave passed along the link, so I might as well post it:

Goldberg [Griffey's agent] said he was scheduled to meet with the Mariners soon and any decision on Griffey's future with the team -- and in baseball -- would be made sooner rather than later.

We'll tackle this story once it's resolved. For now, just something to think about. It's not exactly news, but at this point in the offseason, it might be close enough to qualify.