Mariners, Suzuki agree to minor-league deal
Ichiro Suzuki is returning to the Seattle Mariners as a player for 2019 spring training and the team’s trip to Japan.
General Manager Jerry Dipoto said it was likely to happen when Ichiro transitioned to a front office role of “special assistant to the chairman” in June of last season.
On Wednesday morning, Ichiro’s agent, John Boggs, confirmed that his client and the team had reached an agreement on what they had already basically agreed upon when he was removed from the 40-man roster at the end of May.
Ichiro, 45, will sign a minorleague contract with an invitation to spring training, which the team will officially announce today at its pre-spring training luncheon.
He will report and participate in spring training like any other player. The plan is to take Ichiro to Japan with the team on March 14. Seattle will play two exhibition games vs. the Yomiuri Giants on March 17-18 and then two regular season games vs. the Oakland A’s on March 20-21. The Mariners and the A’s will each have an expanded 28-man roster for those two games.
As the most celebrated player to come out of Japan, it will be a highly anticipated homecoming for Ichiro. He is expected to participate in the two exhibition games. If the Mariners want him eligible to play vs. the A’s, they will have to select his minor-league contract and add him to the 40-man roster and the active 25-man roster to make him eligible.
But what will happen to Ichiro after those two games when the Mariners return to the U.S. is less settled. The Mariners will have two exhibition games at T-Mobile Park (March 25-26) before their home opener vs. the defending World Series champion Red Sox on March 28. Seattle will have to winnow its roster back down to 25 players.