‘Not retiring’: Ichiro moves into Mariners’ front office
SEATTLE Ichiro Suzuki’s last game as a major-league baseball player in 2018 came Wednesday night at Safeco Field in the Mariners’ 3-2 loss to the Oakland A’s.
Now he’s “transitioning ” to a new role for the rest of the season.
The longtime icon and outfielder was removed from the Mariners’ 25-man roster Thursday and assigned a new job in the organization — “Special Assistant to the Chairman.”
So what exactly does the Special Assistant to the Chairman do?
From the Mariners’ statement: “Ichiro will work in collaboration with the Mariners’ Major League staff, High Performance staff and Front Office personnel. He will assist, based on his experience, with outfield play, baserunning and hitting. And he will provide mentorship to both players and staff.”
“We want to make sure we capture all of the value that Ichiro brings to this team off the field,” general manager Jerry Dipoto said in the statement. “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 improves our opportunity to win games.”
Ichiro will still be with the Mariners’ big-league team, possibly even in uniform before games.
“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.”
There was no mention of the word retirement in the statement. And Ichiro appears to have no intention of retiring.
Per a statement that his agent, John Boggs, sent to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic: “He is not retiring. He is taking on a different role for 2018, and 2019 has yet to evolve.”
Ichiro, who went 0 for 3 with a run Wednesday, was hitting .205 in 44 at-bats and did not have an extra-base hit. This new role won’t allow him to return to Seattle’s active roster in 2018.
Ichiro, 44, has 3,089 career hits, including 2,542 as a Mariner, which is 21st most in baseball. He is one of seven players to collect at least 3,000 hits and 500 stolen bases in the major leagues, joining Lou Brock, Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor and Honus Wagner.