Former Seattle Mariners’ superstar Ken Griffey Jr. received a payment of more than $3.5 million on Monday from the Cincinnati Reds.

On July 1, everyone likes to make the same “Bobby Bonilla Day” jokes, but they seem to forget that Griffey Jr. had a contract that was structured very similarly with Cincinnati.

Per @Spotrac on social media:

Happy Bobby Bonilla day to all who celebrate!

The 61-year-old bags another $1.19M from the Mets, & $500k from the Orioles today thanks to two deferred payment contracts.

The Mets deferrals run thru 2035.

54-year-old Ken Griffey Jr. receives his final $3,593,750 payment from the @Reds today stemming from a 16 year, $57.5M deferral agreement.

The Hall of Famer earned over $172M across 22 season.

Deferred payments are nothing new in baseball, and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers famously took massive deferrals in his deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason.

Griffey Jr. was in the same boat as Ohtani when he was playing: He was able to bring in a ton of money in endorsement deals, which helped him in the moment. He therefore was able to push some of his salary into retirement, which helped him in his post-playing career.

Sounds like a pretty great retirement plan to us!

Griffey Jr. was selected No. 1 overall by the Mariners in the 1987 Major League Baseball draft and made his debut in 1989. He became one of the best players in baseball history, hitting 630 home runs and earning induction to the Baseball of Fame in 2016. He is also a member of the Mariners Hall of Fame and is also one of the most popular baseball players in history.

Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Brady on “X” @wdevradiobrady

1) Haniger moves into awesome tie in T-Mobile Park history

2) Raley gives blunt assessment of where M’s are right now

It’s official. June is in the books.
How did I do?
In my very first article here at PredictEm I stated my goals for sports betting, and I’ll restate them here:
1 – Do Not Lose Money
2 – Finish with a Profit – ANY Profit
3 – Seek the Grail: 67%
And of course – HAVE FUN!

Along with a lot of other advice for new bettors, (and any of you who are trying to stop bleeding cash and get your bankroll back to the plus side of the ledger) I recommended not treating your sports betting as an open ended, never ending war. Set goals for time frames (weeks or months) and sports (keep separate records and numbers for college football, NFL, NBA, WNBA, etc.)
Win enough battles and you’ll win the war.

June was the first window I had. Overall, all sports, I came in at 16-13, enough to bank a small profit.
I hit goal number one and two.
And I had a LOT of fun, crunching numbers and sharing my tips, methods, and picks with you.

Round one in my Battle with the Books has ended, and the judge’s scorecards have it as a 10-9 round for me.

The next window I have is July.
Same goals, as always.

The WNBA season started on May 14th, so I now have six weeks worth of data to help me try to Beat the Books in July. That should make it easier, BUT . . . I’ll have limited opportunities as the league goes on break for the All-Star game and then the Olympics.

The All Star break begins on July 18th, and they don’t come back from the Olympic break until August 14.
Like I said, limited opportunities in July.

So where will I get some action?
Hell if I know.

NASCAR?
Possibly. Depends on what track they’re at.
Even with money on it I can’t watch when they’re racing at tracks that are boring.
I need a high percentage possibility of metal hitting metal, or walls, or else my Sunday afternoon TV viewing finds me channel flipping over to Wicked Tuna. Or Naked and Afraid (but only if the chick on it is hot. If not, it’s back to channel flipping, looking for something that can hold my attention. Yes, that’s shallow, I know, but I’ve come to accept my shortcomings.)

CFL?
Possibly. But despite having been fortunate enough to live in Vancouver, BC for two years, I still find the northern version of the game a little bit weird.
Unlike football here in the US, in Canada you can score one point without kicking an extra point. I’m not sure how, I could look it up but I just don’t care enough to take time to do so. It has something to do with punt returns, or not returned, or something. And I still don’t get how the clock could show .00, which in the normal world means the game is over, but in the country that is responsible for Loverboy and Nickelback they can still run one more play.
But they did give us Norm Macdonald, so Canada will always be okay in my book.

Boxing?
It’s always been my favorite sport, but there just aren’t enough quality, evenly matched bouts to make it advantageous from a wagering point of view. Seems like every time I check the odds the favorite is -1,200.00 or higher. At the Sports book I’d see people lay odds like those and I had to refrain myself from asking, “You’re risking $1,200 to win $100. So what is it that you’re going to do with $1,300 that you couldn’t do with $1,200?”
It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Tennis? Golf? Soccer???
I don’t think so.

Like life in general, I’ll just take things day by day.

Note – all of the advice I offer is based on years as a bettor and years of experience gained while running a sports book in Vegas. I never say it’s the right way, I only say it works for me. And it can work for you, too.

Record: 0-0

• WNBA YTD (Year To Date):
• Overall: 10-9
• Favs: 5-6, Dogs 1-1
• Overs 2-1, Unders 2-1

Review: I slipped by with a 1-point win using Minnesota, but missed by 4 points with the Over in the Indy/Phx game. I had quarters of 46, 41, and 44 heading into the 4th quarter, meaning all I needed was 43 to get a Push at worst case. That number was right in line with the first three quarters, but the 4th came in at 39. I lost, but it was a really fun game to watch.

Today’s bet

Slim Pickens to choose from tonight but I’m going to take a chance with the Seattle Storm.
This game that fits a trend reversal system I use that says take the Storm to beat the Dallas Wings.

The overall record is 11- 13, not much of an edge to make me want to take Seattle.

And it’s even worse for home teams like Seattle is tonight, the record is 3-6.

The only saving grace I have is Home teams in this spot are 6-5.

So with not a lot of numbers in my favor why am I taking Seattle?

Let’s start with the fact that Seattle IS going to win the game. That means I only have to worry about the spread. And yes, the spread is high but it’s where it should be against Dallas, the worst team in the league at 4-14.

But the main reason I’m taking Seattle is because they’re killers on their home court.
Starting with their most recent victory they’ve won by 21 (against tonight’s opponent, Dallas) 12, 11 (against Connecticut, the number one defense in the league), 17, 18, 32, and 2, an average of 16 points per game.

Dallas has lost five of the last six by double digits and I’m looking for one more tonight.

Sea -11′

Open bet : Oklahoma -40′
June record, all sports, 16-13

Morning clouds to afternoon sunbreaks and then back to some evening clouds on this Sunday. Highs today peaked in the mid to upper 70s.

Tonight we will see increasing clouds with a slight chance of a pop-up shower through early Monday morning. 

Overnight cloudy skies will keep temperatures very mild with lows in the mid to upper 50s. 

Clouds will be around to start the work week, but skies will start to give way to more sunshine by midday. 

High temperatures will be again in the mid 70s, above average for this time of year.

Regional Highs Tomorrow  (FOX 13 Seattle)

Skies will clear out for the afternoon and evening, with only potentially a few clouds lingering around the Central Puget Sound. 

Looking ahead to the holiday, the Fourth of July is looking picture-perfect! Highs in the low 80s and sunny skies!

High pressure will continue to build and strengthen starting Independence Day through the weekend. Temperatures will warm into the mid to upper 80s for some parts of the Pacific Northwest by the weekend. 

No major rain or active weather expected for the extended forecast. One thing we will be keeping an eye on is the risk for wildland fires.