Ichiro Suzuki is still a member of the Seattle Mariners. Just not a player.
The Mariners announced his career change on Thursday morning, saying they have removed the 44-year-old franchise icon from the active roster and have transitioned him to a n advisory role within the organization.
They were careful in their wording. The Mariners have not said Ichiro has retired, and when he signed this spring Ichiro said he wanted to play until he was at least 50.
Ichiro’s agent, John Boggs, told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that Ichiro is leaving the possibility open of playing in 2019 and even playing in the Mariners’ season-opening series in Japan next season.
“There’s always that possibility,” Boggs said. “The future has yet to be determined.”
Ichiro’s agent, John Boggs: “He is not retiring. He’s taking on a different role for 2018, and 2019 has yet to evolve.” Might Ichiro return for the team’s opening series next season in Japan? “There is always that possibility … The future has yet to be determined.”
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken—Rosenthal) May 3, 2018
The role change means Ichiro cannot return to the Mariners’ active roster this season, the Mariners said.
“While this agreement only covers the 2018 season, it is our goal that Ichiro be a member of the Seattle organization long-term,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said in a press release. “As his role evolves over the 2018 season, it will inform the team and Ichiro on his best fit with us in 2019 and beyond.”
It’s was certainly a unique move, especially since Ichiro had expressed this offseason that he wanted to keep playing until he was at least 50 years old. He’s the second-oldest active player in the major leagues behind Texas Rangers pitcher Bartolo Colon.
“We want to make sure we capture all of the value that Ichiro brings to this team off the field,” Dipoto said. “This new role is a way to accomplish that. While it will evolve over time, the key is that Ichiro’s presence in our clubhouse and with our players and staff improve our opportunity to win games. That is our number-one priority and Ichiro’s number-one priority.”
The Mariners recalled right-handed reliever Erik Goeddel from Triple-A Tacoma to fill his spot, which is effective for their 7:10 p.m. game Thursday against the Athletics.
Ichiro started in left field in Wednesday’s loss to the A’s, and he struck out in his final at-bat, amid raucous “Ichi-Ro” chants from the Safeco Field crowd.
He’s been known to keep to himself throughout his career, especially in terms of providing baseball advice — not speaking unless spoken to.
“I’m not in any position to teach them or anything like that,” Ichiro said earlier this season when asked about his mentorship role on the team. “But if they ever have questions or they want to ask me something, I’m always happy to talk to them. And if I can help them in any way, of course I would love to help.”
Ichiro is a 10-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove recipient, and he signed this offseason with the Mariners on a minor-league contract, returning to the club he made his major league debut with out of Japan in 2001, when he was both American League rookie of the year and MVP in the same season.
He ranks 21st all-time in MLB history with 3,089 hits, and that doesn’t include the 1,278 hits he had in eight years with the Orix Blue Wave in Japan.
That’s 4,367 career hits — a shoo-in Hall-of-Fame kind of stat.
But it was clear Ichiro isn’t the Ichiro of old. In 15 games this season and 44 at-bats, he was hitting .205 with a .255 on-base percentage. All his nine hits were singles.
But Dipoto has raved about Ichiro’s presence in the clubhouse and maintained that position Thursday.
“With Ichiro’s track record of success, his personality, his unique perspective and his work ethic, he is singularly positioned to impact both our younger players and the veterans in the clubhouse,” Dipoto said. “We really don’t want him to change anything that he’s doing right now, with the exception that he will not be playing in games.
“We believe that Ichiro’s signing and his assimilation into our team has helped us this season and we want to make sure we continue that.”
Among the Mariners’ all-time leaders in club history, Ichiro ranks first in hits (2,542), batting (.322), at-bats (7,902), triples (79, and stolen bases (438).
But the Mariners’ have committed to their young, athletic outfield. They signed Ichiro after Ben Gamel strained his oblique during spring training. It certainly made sense at the time, with the Mariners expecting Gamel to be out until at least May.
Gamel is a 25-year-old left-handed hitter and Guillermo Heredia is 27 and hits right handed, making for an ideal platoon in left field. And Ichiro certainly wasn’t going to supplant hot-hitting 27-year-old Mitch Haniger in his old position, right field. Gamel, Heredia and Haniger are all coming off of their rookie seasons in 2017.
But Ichiro’s agent has insisted Ichiro has not retired. Boggs told USA Today that Ichiro “doesn’t want to play for another organization, especially this year. The Mariners is where he wants to be.”
It does mean that Ichiro won’t get to play against 23-year-old Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels’ rookie out of Japan who considers Ichiro his lifelong idol. Ohtani is likely to make his first start against the Mariners on Sunday at Safeco Field against Felix Hernandez and Ichiro said this offseason that he would have loved an opportunity to hit, and maybe pitch, against the two-way star.
