SEATTLE -- This is one sad, sad city.

"We're all in mourning," said Shirley Anderson, owner of a bar and restaurant just blocks from Seattle's new baseball stadium. "It's a sad day for baseball in Seattle."

Fans here were not shocked to learn Tuesday that Ken Griffey Jr. would be traded by the Mariners, at his request. They'd heard Griffey talk about wanting to be near his family in Florida and wanting to play for a World Series contender.

Still, knowing the blow might be coming didn't make it any easier to take.

"Ken Griffey Jr.'s probably the best all-around baseball player alive who is still playing," said Steve Winter, a childhood baseball fan who fell in love with the game again after he moved to Seattle. "He is what made the Mariners worth watching at all ... I was hoping he'd finish out his career in a Mariners uniform."

Even in the depths of Griffey depression, some looked for a silver lining.

"If they can trade him and get five good people instead of one superstar, that'll be better for the team," said Winter, who works at Elliott Bay Book Co. near the stadium. "If he were to stay and be unhappy, it's better to have him traded."

Down the street at Ned's bar and grill, owner Tina Bueche agreed.

"He's a very talented athlete. Seattle will miss him," she said. "But one player can't make a team. Maybe it's an opportunity for the Mariners to reinvent themselves."

But others saw the All-Star centerfielder as irreplaceable.

"You can't get value for these guys," said Richard Brooks, a Seattle fan who compares Griffey to Willie Mays. "They'll be lucky if they can get 75 percent, unless they trade for young talent and get very lucky."

Griffey's goodbye was the talk of Seattle from bars to bookstores, from Starbucks to city offices.

"There's no way you could ever replace Ken Griffey," admitted King County Executive Ron Sims. Still, he hopes the Mariners will be "working on a trade ... to get the kind of players that are able to move the team toward success."

Fans here have supported the Mariners not only with their hearts, but with their wallets. The taxpayer-supported $517 million Safeco Field, the most expensive major league stadium, opened this year.

"I think we built that ballpark in part to see Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey play, but also because we wanted Major League Baseball in this community," Sims said

Griffey is leaving, Johnson now pitches for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Rodriguez's status for next season in Seattle is in jeopardy. Rodriguez is entering the final year of his contract and has said he will not negotiate a new one with any team -- even if he is traded -- until his current deal expires

"Speaking as a fan ... it's a loss of a marquee attraction," said Ed Hunter, executive director of the Washington State Major League Baseball Public Facilities District, the agency that oversaw Safeco Field construction. "It's hard to envision somebody else out there."

But Hunter added, "If this last season has been any indication, the people love the ballpark and we're confident that the M's will make every effort to field a good club.

"The ballpark itself is going to attract people anyway -- I just don't see an adverse effect as far as this still being an attraction."

Not everyone shed a tear for Griffey.

"He was always a prima donna out there in the outfield," said cabbie Jay Fisher as he sped through downtown Seattle. "I know he's good talent ... but he wanted to be somewhere else."

Fisher and others want to know what's next. What will happen to shortstop Rodriguez, who has also been vocal about his desire to play for a World Series contender? Where is Griffey going? Who will the Mariners get in return?

"The whole direction of the team is very cloudy now," Fisher said.