Why He Left: Said he wanted to play in a place where he was fully appreciated and wanted.

Why That Was Weird: 1) Seattle worshipped him like a god, having nurtured him from a wild gimmick into a Hall of Famer; and 2) He walked away as a free agent from Houston after the Astros had mortgaged its future by trading three young players who have since become part of the core in Seattle.

Todd Warshaw, Scott Troyanos/Allsport

Why Seattle Felt Jilted: When the Mariners traded for Johnson in 1989, it cost them the closest thing they had to a franchise player, Mark Langston. At the time, Johnson had 11 major league games under his belt and was known simply as the tallest lefty in major league history. He was the real-life Nuke LaLoosh, having led the league in walks in each of his first three full seasons in Seattle. During his eight full seasons in Seattle, he would lead the league in strikeouts four times, pitch a no-hitter and win the Cy Young Award in 1995. His 43-6 mark from 1995-1997 is the best three-year record in history (min. 45 starts).

Statistics aside: Mariners fans loved Johnson when the rest of baseball thought he was just a freak show. Through his occasional bouts of sullen withdrawal, the fans always gave him his space and always put their faith in him for The Big Game.

The Fallout: Unit goes 10-1 down the stretch for Houston in 1998, then goes 0-2 in a NLDS washout against San Diego. He goes 36-16 and garners two more Cy Youngs in Arizona, but he goes 0-1 with a 7.56 ERA as the D'backs fall to the Mets in the '99 NLDS.

Romance Ends As Mariner Fans Wake To Reality Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- August 7, 1998 By Art Thiel Since September 1995, the Mariner fan base has been an almost complete contradiction to the rest of baseball. Everywhere else, many fans, vibrating with contempt for owners and players who ushered in the 1994 strike that cost the World Series and bled into 1995, abandoned the game. Not here. After the Mariners pulled off a preposterous regular-season comeback loaded with late-inning dramatics to make their first postseason, they played what was arguably the most electric series ever. The engaging players and their success-starved fans fell into an affectionate clinch rare in pro sports. Fans didn't have to be told to love these guys. They beat the marketers to the slogan. That was then. The point now, driven home in the week since the trade of Randy Johnson: The affair is over.

Vincent Laforet, Rick Stewart/Allsport

Why He Left: Said he wanted to be closer to his family.

Why That Was Weird: One of Griffey's driving forces was the quest for his own identity beyond the shadow of his famous father. Yet, not only did he choose to go play in the same stadium, in the same uniform, sharing the same clubhouse with his father ... but he left a city which had embraced him as an individual and regarded his father as "that old guy who got to play with his kid for a season."

Why Seattle Felt Jilted: He was their franchise player. Drafted No. 1 overall, an instant sensation at 19. Seattle became so Griffey-centric that you couldn't look up from you double tall latte without seeing his mug on a bus, building or T-shirt.

Statistics aside: Junior had all the stats, but he also had the smile. His impish demeanor was infectious, whether he was launching homers over the wall or pulling them back in.

The Fallout: In a new league and haunted by death threats, Griffey has his "worst" full season since his rookie year: .271, 40, 118 -- numbers that would have won an MVP in the '80s, but considered run of the mill by today's inflated standards. Griffey also bickers with media members and can only watch as the Reds start selling off players as the season disintegrates. Seattle plays a thrilling playoff series with the Yankees, Griffey's favorite nemesis, while he spends plenty of time with his family.

 

11-Year Saga With M's Comes To Bitter End The Seattle Times -- February 10, 2000 By Steve Kelley In the end, it got too complicated and the rhetoric got too heated and the choices got too limited. And now the deal is sealed. After 11 seasons, 398 home runs and enough fence-climbing and turf-eating, highlight-reel catches to fill a full-length feature movie, Ken Griffey Jr. is leaving the Seattle Mariners. The player most identified with this franchise, the center fielder who turned this city from the game's wasteland into one of its jewels, has become a Cincinnati Red. We'll never know what this lineup might have looked like with Alex Rodriguez batting in front of Griffey and Edgar Martinez and John Olerud hitting behind him. We'll never know how Griffey might have reacted if this team lived up to its potential, won the American League West, and challenged the Yankees in the AL Championship Series. It's too late to dream. Too much damage has been done.

Why He Left: Said he wasn't just going to the highest bidder ... that he just wanted to play for a contender.

Jeff Gross, Tom Hauck/Allsport

Why That Was Weird: Because he did ... and he isn't.

Why Seattle Felt Jilted: Another former No. 1 pick grew into a Hall of Famer only to walk away at the height of his career. A-Rod is well on his way to being the most dominant shortstop in baseball history.

Statistics aside: For three years, the Mariners hedged their bets on which superstar they could keep. They traded Randy Johnson and still thought they had a chance to keep Junior and A-Rod. Then Junior wanted out and the Mariners figured they could put all their eggs in A-Rod's basket. But when A-Rod's basket became a silo, it was a called third strike on the Mariners fans who had the city's three biggest sports heroes act as if they had been paroled from prison.

It was supposed to be a blockbuster ... it turned into a gutbuster.

The Mariners wanted a big bat in the lineup ... all they got was a big butt.

OK, you get the picture. Insert your own fat joke here.

The Mariners wanted to make a move, and figured they were getting an MVP-type player in Mitchell. Problem was, Mitchell's best year was behind him. He played only 99 games in one season for Seattle, and even though his .286 average was only five points lower than in his 1989 MVP season, he hit only nine homers and drove in 67 runs.

Over the next few seasons, Swift would lead the NL in ERA and become a 20-game winner in San Fran, Jackson went on to be one of the game's best set-up men, and Burba has been a reliable arm to this day.

K. Nicholson, Sacramento, Calif.: The only thing Kevin Mitchell hit was every all-you-can-eat in the greater Seattle area. I still think is the worst trade in history.

Luke Windsor, Mukilteo, Wash.: In 1992, the Seattle Mariners made the worst trade in their history. The trade consisted of trading several pitchers, most of them from the bullpen, for Kevin Mitchell. That season was one of the absolute worst in Mariners history. Mitchell's presence in the lineup was almost non-existent, and due to the depleted bullpen, known as the Arson Squad, the Mariners lost several games due to their faulty pitching. In the aftermath of that season, Mitchell and several of the Arson Squad members were sent away, while several of the players the Mariners gave up for Mitchell have had successful major league careers.