Hiring Ken Griffey Jr. as senior advisor to MLB will be great for baseball

Ken Griffey Jr. was the face of baseball on the field for over two decades. Now the Hall of Famer and former Cincinnati Reds outfielder will become the face behind baseball. MLB announced on Friday that Griffey has been hired to be the senior advisor to Commissioner Rob Manfred. Honestly, this is one of the best decisions Major League Baseball has made in a long time.

Griffey will be tasked with consulting MLB in many different areas with a special emphasis on baseball operations, and youth development. Griffey will also work to improve diversity at the amateur levels. Junior will also serve as an MLB Ambassador at special events like the All-Star Game and the MLB Postseason.

Ken Griffey Jr. may take some heat off Rob Manfred.

This is likely to win Manfred a lot of favor with some of his detractors. It’s no secret that Manfred is probably the most unpopular Commissioner in all of sports. That isn’t a shocking revelation with how often Manfred has been in the public eye making one controversial decision after the other, and seemingly being in the crosshairs of former Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer.

Rob Manfred has been scrutinized over a number of decisions; not hitting the Houston Astros harder after a blatant disregard for the rules in route to a World Series and calling the World Series trophy, “just a piece of metal.”

Manfred also threatened to suspend and fine players over cleats and uniform issues, he suspended Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly after throwing a ball high and tight to Alex Bregman, and one of his worst mistakes was trying to make the players look like the bad guys when the 2020 season was being negotiated amidst the pandemic.

I think the hiring of Griffey, albeit a good one is a Hail Mary effort to try to re-ignite interest in a sport that is losing interest at a rapid rate, partly due to Manfred’s poor leadership. From baseball purists and the new generation of baseball fans share one common interest; their disdain for what Manfred has done to baseball.

On the field and off the field, Ken Griffey Jr. saved baseball during his playing days. Griffey Jr. could basically be dubbed the Michael Jordan of baseball. Not one person has been able to brand themselves into something as iconic as Junior. Griffey will immediately garner the respect of everyone in baseball from players to owners.

Since Griffey’s playing days ended, he almost immediately went to work with the Seattle Mariners front office. I think this decision to bring Griffey in as an MLB executive is without a doubt the move that is going to groom Ken Griffey Jr. to become the next Commissioner of Major League Baseball once Manfred is pushed out the door, and all of baseball should be excited about that.