Latest Scoop by Dave Kinworthy

Ken Griffey Jr. is finally leaving the Seattle Mariners.

The minute I heard that, I thought that he deserves to leave. Griffey has paid his dues to the Seattle organization, and they have not provided him with enough talent on the team to produce a winner.

Hitting home runs may be one thing for Griffey, but it was the love for the game and a winning attitude that he longed for. He did not want to be stuck on a team with no pitching and be the lone All Star caliber player on the team.

Griffey wishes to pursue his options in the south near his home in Florida. Potential teams that may have an interest are the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Florida Marlins, along with the always financially secure Atlanta Braves.

If Griffey decided to go further north, he would probably consider going to the Cincinnati Reds where his father played as a professional.

Any of these teams would be more than happy to add Griffey into their starting lineup for the '00 season, but who can actually afford Griffey?

Tampa Bay is a newer team in the American League, but the team lacks a dominant, healthy homerun hitter. Jose Canseco is not the answer with all of his petty injury problems. Their indoor stadium would be a great fit for Griffey if only the fans actually went to half of their home games.

The Florida Marlins have the money to pursue Griffey, but they won't even bother with him because their owner is too occupied with trying to save money instead of spending it.

Griffey could revitalize a team that won the World Series and then crumpled.

The Atlanta Braves seem to be the favorite to get Griffey right now. They have an owner who is willing to spend money on talented players (Brian Jordan) and expects to win every year.

The Cincinnati Reds may have the inside track on Griffey though because of his father's past encounters throughout the Reds' organization. There goes one Griffey and now steps in Griffey Jr.

Wherever Griffey Jr. goes, the team will benefit from his attitude and love for the game of baseball.

Griffey Jr. is considered most likely to challenge Hank Aaron's all-time home run mark.

With an aging Mark McGwire, someone has to take the initiative to step his game up a level and emerge as a new home run king.

Griffey is the man for the position. He does not play every home game at Wrigley Field (which is one reason why Sosa has hit so many home runs in the past two years) and has a great sense of the game on the defensive side.

While Griffey is roaming the outfields of his new designated team, I just hope that the fans will take kindly to what he has done for the game of baseball.

You never hear anything negative about Griffey (spitting in an umpire's face) and he always handles the game in a professional way. Seattle is losing a good thing.