Ichiro Suzuki returns to Mariners on 1-year deal

LIGHT THE WARNING BEACONS OF GONDOR BECAUSE WE HAVE AN ICHIRO ALERT.

After coming close to losing him to another league because this offseason won’t give us any fun or good free agent signings, Ichiro will be staying stateside to play baseball this year after all. Even better, he’s doing it with the Seattle Mariners. The deal was confirmed by Greg Johns, after being initially reported by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

Ichiro played in Seattle from 2001 to 2012, a favorite of Mariners fans but also everybody else because it’s Ichiro and we’re not made of stone. Having him in the league is never a bad thing, so this is great news all around. Please stick around as long as possible, Ichiro. For us.

He’s obviously not playing anywhere near the peaks of his original stint in the Pacific Northwest, where he batted .322/.365/.419 while averaging 55 RBI and 38 stolen bases a year. He also hasn’t played 150 games or more since his 2013 campaign with the Yankees, and is averaging only .263/.312/.333 with a .644 OPS over the last five seasons with New York and the Miami Marlins, although he did put up a .299/.384/.379 line in the second half of 2017 in 99 plate appearances. A small sample size, but encouraging nonetheless.

It’s not like his lessened productivity is a huge concern though. He can still contribute at times and a homecoming for what could be his last year in Major League Baseball (although it better not be, if we don’t get him through his age 50 season that’s a tragedy) is the best possible scenario. With the Mariners’ recent injury issues they need someone to fill in the gaps and who better than Ichiro?

NO ONE, THAT’S WHO.

Mariners fans are going to need to root for something this year after all, and having Ichiro around will make what may be a tough season easier to swallow. If their season ends up being more successful than expected, then this is just icing on the cake.