Yet one Mariners player who was recently at Griffey's house said the 39-year-old slugger wants to return to Seattle, where he started becoming a superstar as a teen in 1989.

New Mariners first baseman Russell Branyan is a former teammate of Griffey's in Cincinnati. He said he was at Griffey's home in Orlando, Fla., four weeks ago for a dinner as part of a charity golf event.

"He told me he'd love to come back here. ... I asked him if we were going to be teammates again. He seemed very open to it," Branyan said.

Then Branyan pointed to his left, at the locker vacated earlier in the day by veteran Mike Sweeney. Sweeney, who could lose at-bats as a designated hitter should Griffey arrive, is now immediately to Branyan's right. That leaves two empty stalls on a corner of the clubhouse, the preferred setup for superstars and the same spot RBI leader Raul Ibanez had for years until he signed with Philadelphia this offseason.

"Look, they moved Sweeney to clear space at the corner locker," Branyan said while laughing and referring to Griffey, who is fifth all-time with 611 home runs.

Seattle's first full-team workout is Wednesday. That's plenty of time for Griffey to finish his pro-am in California and come to Arizona to take a physical that would complete a new deal.

After the Chicago White Sox declined the $16.5 million option on Griffey's contract, a return to Seattle for a fraction of the price, perhaps $5 million, seems possible. The Mariners are trying to drop their payroll to about $100 million, down from about $120 million last season.

Griffey was an All-Star for each of his final 10 seasons in Seattle until he got the trade he asked for to Cincinnati in 2000. He was coy when asked about his possible return.

"We don't know what we're doing next year with respect to Seattle. It's all rumors," Griffey said Thursday after finishing his initial round at Pebble Beach.

He declined to answer any questions Friday about where he would playing next year. He did show midseason form by clearing the fence with one mighty swing on the 15th hole. But that's not a good thing in golf - the fence borders 17 Mile Drive on the right of the fairway, and Junior had to hit another from the tee with a two-shot penalty.

Branyan, who played with Griffey in 2002 and '03 and arrived to the Mariners this winter in Seattle's annual search for left-handed power, is all for the move.

"He's a fun guy, a great teammate," he said, squashing a perception Griffey can sometimes be unapproachable.

Branyan said that is a public front, a necessary shield around superstardom for a 13-time All-Star.

"You have that type of status, you've got to have some walls around you," Branyan said.

Branyan is still impressed by what Griffey did for Branyan's father in Cincinnati a few years ago. The two sluggers stayed behind from a Reds road trip to rehabilitate injuries and take batting practice together. Branyan's father had flown in for a few days and came to the stadium to watch. Griffey noticed Branyan's dad was, like him, left-handed. So Griffey threw him his fielding glove.

"There was my dad, in the outfield, shagging for Griffey in his street clothes," Branyan said, shaking his head. "That was all he talked about for weeks."

Will Griffey be shagging flies in a Mariners uniform next week?

"Honestly, we're waiting to see," first-time manager Don Wakamatsu said.

Wakamatsu said he's only met Griffey once, last year. He talked to him for a couple of minutes.

"I respect him as a player. He's one of the greatest of all time - especially in his time in Seattle," Wakamatsu said.

He said Griffey's return would not be a distraction in a camp were there will be a lot going on. Wakamatsu is trying institute a new system and has opened most starting jobs as a competition after Seattle lost 101 games last season.

Branyan thinks having Junior around again would be a blast.

"I think Griffey - for what he's done in this game, what he's done here, the type of status he has - I think he'd be a great teammate here," he said.

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