Ichiro Wont Play Again in 2018 After Joining Mariners Front Office
Ichiro has new office with Mariners, won't play again in 2018
SEATTLE — Roughly three hours earlier first pitch on Thursday night, Ichiro Suzuki jogged to bring together his Seattle Mariners teammates in the outfield, fully in uniform, blackness paw in hand, prepping for another pregame routine of catching wing balls and hitting in the muzzle.
Except there was no game for the 44-year-old Suzuki to get fix for. He wouldn't exist in the lineup on this night, or again in the 2022 flavour. And perhaps his career.
"The past two months have been the happiest I've been," Suzuki said through an interpreter. "I knew one mean solar day that the day would come when I would have to walk away. Merely the Mariners have given me this opportunity to stay on. Obviously, with my teammates and how nifty they've been and how much they mean to me and how much I desire to assist is the reason I wanted to stay on and help in whatsoever manner I can."
Suzuki'south career transitioned Thursday when the Mariners announced he was shifting into a front office role as a special assistant to the chairman. The job isn't sitting behind a desk-bound but rather more of what Suzuki has done every twenty-four hour period of his xviii seasons in the majors. He'll still be in the clubhouse. He'll nonetheless go through pregame workouts and preparations and take part in batting practice.
When the game begins, Suzuki will be required to leave the demote and will take his spot in the clubhouse. He's a player-coach, except without the thespian role for the rest of the 2022 season.
Manager Scott Servais said Suzuki's role will morph over time, but he expects Suzuki to have a hand in helping with outfield defense, base running and striking.
"I just want it to exist kind of organic, it grows, see where information technology fits in the best," Servais said. "I am looking frontwards to just kind of sitting down with him in a different type of human relationship at present that he'due south not on an active roster and asking him questions and gaining some of his experiences and hopefully it helps me and helps the brawl club out."
Information technology'due south a unique circumstance for a unique player.
"During the game I will be doing the same preparations I've been doing the entire time. Cipher is going to change for me that I did as a role player," Suzuki said. "But I can't say for certain that maybe I won't put on a bristles and glasses and exist like Bobby Valentine and be in the dugout."
Officially, the Mariners released Suzuki to clear a spot on the 40-man and 25-man rosters. Only retirement was not a word used to depict the transaction. Suzuki is not closing the door to hereafter opportunities and neither are the Mariners. Suzuki joked that when he starts using a pikestaff, that's when he knows information technology's time to retire.
Maybe the most obvious opportunity on the horizon for Suzuki is the opening of the 2022 season, when Seattle is scheduled to confront Oakland for two games in Japan.
"We don't suspect this closes the book on Ichiro's career as a actor, and potentially a actor with the Mariners," full general manager Jerry Dipoto said.
Suzuki had appeared in 15 games this year for the Mariners. He started Wed night and went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
But a handful of people knew Wednesday was the terminal game of the 2022 flavour for Suzuki. Conversations started a few weeks ago almost what Suzuki's role would be later on the Mariners returned to total wellness in their outfield and the final plan was presented to Suzuki on Monday.
Suzuki was nearly the hero, barely missing a hit in the ninth inning of Seattle's 3-2 loss that sliced a few anxiety foul with the tying run at second base. Instead, his concluding at-bat of 2022 was a strikeout.
"Now I don't feel every bit bad near walking Ichiro last night," tweeted Oakland A's lefty Brett Anderson , who started Wednesday'due south game and walked Suzuki in the tertiary inning.
After almost half dozen years away, Suzuki returned this spring to help patch an injury-depleted outfield on the team he played for from 2001 to 2012. Suzuki was signed after Seattle learned Ben Gamel would miss the get-go few weeks of the regular season and the reunion was a feel-proficient story of the onetime star returning to where his career in the majors started.
Suzuki hit .205 in 44 at-bats and all 9 of his hits this season were singles. While Suzuki struggled at the plate, he did have a few defensive gems, including robbing Cleveland's Jose Ramirez of a homer on the opening weekend of the season and reminding everyone of his greatness as an all-around role player.
Seattle's staff and players have raved about Suzuki's presence in the clubhouse.
"He'southward kind of like the Dalai Lama in the clubhouse," Dipoto said. "You come across information technology on the flights. He'll sit down in his chair and immediately Dee Gordon is sitting next to him and Mitch Haniger is turning sideways and he'south beyond the row. The guy in front of him is leaning back in his seat. It'southward almost like they're all waiting for him to opine from the mountain top."
Suzuki earned the 2001 AL Rookie of the Year and MVP with the Mariners and won a pair of AL batting titles. He was traded to the Yankees midway through 2012, played parts of three seasons with New York, and so spent three seasons with Miami.
The 10-fourth dimension All-Star has a .311 average and 3,089 hits, non including the one,278 hits he amassed in nine seasons in Japan.
"Obviously, I'yard in a different situation now, merely I definitely see myself playing again and that's why I'thousand going to continue to practice and piece of work to do the things I need to do to keep to go better," Suzuki said. "Information technology'due south hard for me to imagine non playing."
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Source: https://ottawacitizen.com/pmn/sports-pmn/baseball-sports-pmn/ichiro-suzuki-transitioning-to-front-office-with-mariners/wcm/79b54a83-6e19-4ca3-821c-c2ce09e011e7/
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