Suzuki moving to front office, hasn’t ruled out playing again
SEATTLE » Roughly three hours before first pitch on Thursday night, Ichiro Suzuki jogged to join his Seattle Mariners teammates in the outfield, fully in uniform, black mitt in hand, prepping for another pregame routine of catching fly balls and hitting in the cage.
Except therewas no game for the 44-year- old Suzuki to get ready for. He wouldn’t be in the lineup on this night, or again in the 2018 season. Andmaybe his career.
“The past two months have been the happiest I’ve been,” Suzuki said through an interpreter. “I knewone day that the day would come when I would have to walk away. But theMariners have given me this opportunity to stay on. Obviously, with my teammates and how great they’ve been and how much they mean to me and how much I want to help is the reason I wanted to stay on and help in any way I can.”
Suzuki’s 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 but rathermore of what Suzuki has done every day of his 18 seasons in themajors. He’ll still be in the clubhouse. He’ll still go through pregameworkouts and preparations and take part in batting practice.
When the game begins, Suzuki will be required to leave the bench and will take his spot in the clubhouse. He’s a playercoach, exceptwithout the player part for the rest of the 2018 season.
Manager Scott Servais said Suzuki’s role will morph over time, but he expects Suzuki to have a hand in helpingwith outfield defense, base running and hitting.
“I justwant it to be kind of organic, it grows, see where it fits in the best,” Servais said. “I am looking forward to just kind of sitting down with him in a different type of relationship now that he’s not on an active roster and asking him questions and gaining some of his experiences and hopefully it helps me and helps the ball club out.”
It’s a unique circumstance for a unique player.
“During the game I will be doing the same preparations I’ve been doing the entire time. Nothing is going to change for me that I did as a player,” Suzuki said. “But I can’t say for certain that maybe I won’t put on a beard and glasses and be 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. But retirement was not a word used to describe the transaction. Suzuki is not closing the door to future opportunities and neither are theMariners. Suzuki joked that when he starts using a cane, that’s when he knows it’s time to retire.
Perhaps themost obvious opportunity on the horizon for Suzuki is the opening of the 2019 season, when Seattle is scheduled to face Oakland for two games in Japan.
“We don’t suspect this closes the book on Ichiro’s career as a player, and potentially a player with the Mariners,” general manager Jerry Dipoto said.