We all suspected something like this was coming. Here it is.
After the pages of digital ink spilled on Ichiro, today is the day. He steps away from baseball as a Mariner, but will stay with the team in a non-playing capacity through the rest of the year. In baseball terms, this allows the club to move forward with the four best outfielders and keep their pitching staff fresh and at capacity—they promoted right-handed reliever Erik Goeddel to take his roster spot. His final stint with Seattle was complicated, and we’ve all spent a couple months wrestling with roster moves and where this was going to end.