FanHouse JeffZduriencik

As a kid growing up, there's no question that my favorite player (non-White Sox) in the sport was Ken Griffey Jr. I emulated his batting stance for a while, I started wearing my hat backwards during practice, and I tried to get every Griffey baseball card in print. Of course, when I reminisce about Junior, I always picture him as a Seattle Mariner.

Frankly, while his time in Cincinnati had its moments, I remember it more for all the injuries that robbed him of any chance to break Hank Aaron's home run-record. Then he came to Chicago last season, and while it was nice to see him in a White Sox jersey, he wasn't the Griffey I grew up watching. Now, thankfully, after nine years away from the Emerald City, it looks like Junior is on the verge of returning to where it all started.

The Seattle Mariners have a bit of a rebuilding project in front of them, and the new administration knows that. General Manager Jack Zduriencik could be in search of signing a few veteran free agents, though, just to stay at least somewhat competitive for the next few years while they attempt to rebuild their farm system -- after former GM Bill Bavasi mortgaged it for Erik Bedard.

Today they tried to snag one early in the Hot Stove season, making an offer to, uh, I don't know. I can tell you who it's not, does that help?

He wouldn't name the player, but it isn't Ken Griffey Jr. Ok, so that really narrows it down.

Zduriencik also let us in on the fact that it was a position player, not a pitcher, and that he hopes to know within the next couple days.

So that's what we know. Let's just play a game here and try to guess who it was. We'll narrow the list by eliminating very high-priced talent. As Jacob told us in the Mariners' footprints, they need an offensive player. Raul Ibanez is departing from the outfield, and I think replacing him is their most pressing need.

Don Wakamatsu saw the Seattle Mariners from across the diamond 19 times in 2008 as the bench coach of the Oakland Athletics. Reports are now surfacing that he'll get them for all 162 games next season as their new manager. The team will make the announcement Wednesday in a press conference.

Wakamatsu beat out six others for the job, none of whom were named Jim Riggleman. Riggleman had quite a run after taking over for John McLaren midway through the season, going 36-54. Of course, McLaren fared much worse, going 25-47 before he was shown the door.

Wakamatsu is a fine hire for this team, who is going to be starting from scratch this season. He's going to be a young manager at age 46 -- when the season starts -- but he's also seasoned, having spent five years as a bench coach in the AL West (four of those years were with the Texas Rangers). He'll be able to grow into an experienced manager while his team grows up with him.

Overall, the hire is a nice fit for both parties. The new general manager, Jeff Zduriencik, can now focus on building the foundation for a long rebuilding process.