NEW YORK -- Junior in pinstripes?

Seems sort of unfair to the rest of baseball.

After all, George Steinbrenner's New York Yankees have won two straight World Series and are the early favorite to win another next season.

Ken Griffey Jr. already has given the Seattle Mariners a list of teams he would be agreeable to play for in a trade -- and the Yankees might be on it.

"We have a preagreed list of teams, so they're not wasting their time or knocking their heads," his agent, Brian Goldberg said Friday.

The Mariners asked Griffey and Goldberg not to reveal the teams on the list or even the number of clubs.

"They may want to get some teams in the fray who are not part of it to drive the price up," Goldberg said. "Kenny said, `That's the least I can do.'"

Atlanta, which has won eight straight division titles, is considered the front-runner to get Griffey, who said he wanted to play closer to his Orlando, Fla., home. It's a short flight away, and the Braves' spring training camp in Kissimmee, Fla., is within driving distance of Griffey's home.

Cincinnati is also interested. Ken Griffey Sr. played for the Big Red Machine in the 1970s and Griffey Jr. grew up there.

But nobody's ruling out the Yankees -- not even the competition.

"We all know the kind of great teams and great players that Mr. Steinbrenner has put on the field," Reds general manager Jim Bowden said. "I would not count him out."

Griffey had said he wouldn't play in the Bronx because of the way his father was treated when he played for the Yankees from 1982 to 1986.

But Goldberg said that's not necessarily true anymore.

"Senior made a point of telling him he shouldn't be blaming George for things that happened years ago as a kid," Goldberg said.

He said the senior Griffey told his son it was "more someone else's doing."

Advice from Senior to Junior is taken to heart, Goldberg said.

"Junior listens to his dad big time. He's very protective of his dad. He's real close to him," said the agent, who also represented Griffey Sr.

Without naming names, Goldberg indicated the cause of past Yankee trouble was manager Billy Martin, who died in 1989. Goldberg said he didn't want to accuse someone "no longer around to defend himself."

Griffey joining up with Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Roger Clemens, Orlando Hernandez, and Mariano Rivera, to name a few Yanks, could not be a pleasant thought for other teams hoping for a World Series championship for themselves.

Even with a payroll already approaching $100 million for next season, the Yankees could find space for Griffey, Williams and Paul O'Neill in the same outfield. With a top ticket price that probably will be $55 or $60 for next season and more than $50 million in broadcast income, the Yankees' revenue probably will be around $200 million.

And that doesn't even include the $200 million or more that Steinbrenner and his limited partners will get as a result of their merger with the NBA's New Jersey Nets.

Goldberg emphasized that Griffey will work with the Mariners and that any parting would be amicable. He doesn't know how quickly, or even if, a trade can be worked out.

His guess was that initial talks would take place at the general managers' meeting that start this weekend in Dana Point, but that negotiations might stretch out into spring training. Whether the Mariners also try to trade All-Star shortstop Alex Rodriguez will be a factor.

"What they do with him probably affects who gets in the fray with Junior," Goldberg said. "If they don't trade Alex, there may be more teams in the fray."