SEATTLE — Ichiro Suzuki will go to spring training next season with the Seattle Mariners as a player.
General Manager Jerry Dipoto said Suzuki will be in spring training with the team in 2019 and hinted the veteran outfielder could be on the roster when the club opens next March with a pair of games in Tokyo against Oakland.
Dipoto said Suzuki will be given a chance to be part of the 28-man roster the team is allowed to have in Japan, but there were no guarantees he’d have a spot on the 25-man roster when the rest of the regular season begins back home.
Dipoto said the Mariners will give Suzuki an opportunity “as both a coaching presence and a player presence,” when the Mariners arrive at spring training in February.
Suzuki made Seattle’s roster out of spring training this season but moved to a special assistant role with the front office in May.
The new role kept Suzuki from playing again, although he remained with the team, taking part in batting practice with the idea of trying to return in 2019.
ROCKIES: Right fielder Carlos Gonzalez was booed when he came to the plate for the first time against the Dodgers in the NL West tiebreaker.
The crowd was reacting to Gonzalez’s comments in a column in the Denver Post in which he said he detests hearing “I Love L.A.,” a song that blares after every Dodgers home victory.
Gonzalez called it “that stupid song” and said he tries to run into the visiting clubhouse as fast as he can to avoid hearing it.
After Gonzalez struck out to end the second, the stadium organist played a snippet of Randy Newman’s ode to the city.
ANGELS: Shohei Ohtani underwent Tommy John surgery and will spend much of the offseason in southern California for rehabilitation.
The team plans to use Ohtani as a hitter throughout 2019. He will return to the mound in 2020.
Ohtani was named the AL Rookie of the Month for September, which began with an abbreviated pitching performance and the subsequent realization he needed surgery. Ohtani went on to bat .310 with seven homers and 18 RBI.
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