Although he retired as a player last month, there's no chance Ichiro Suzuki is done with baseball. Tuesday afternoon the Mariners announced Ichiro has rejoined the organization as an instructor. He starts immediately. Here are the details via the team's announcement:
Ichiro will maintain his title of Special Assistant to the Chairman but will report to Dipoto. In his new role, he will work as an instructor with the Major League and AAA clubs, with a focus on outfield play, base-running and, in conjunction with the hitting coaches, batting.
He will work the majority of Mariners home games, with the vast majority of his time being spent with the players pre-game.
After opening last season on the active roster, Ichiro transitioned into a similar role last May. He traveled with the team throughout the season and even participated in pregame workouts and batting practice.
The Mariners carried Ichiro on their active roster for the two-game Japan Opening Series last month. He went 0 for 5 with a walk and a strikeout during the two games in Tokyo, then announced his retirement as a player after the series.
Ichiro, now 45, is slam dunk first ballot Hall of Famer with 3,089 big league hits and a .311/.355/.402 career batting line. He has 4,367 professional hits between Japan and MLB, the most in history.