FanHouse Jeanne Zelasko

We've all known about it for a few days now, well all of us except for Jeanne Zelasko that is, but Ichiro finally put pen to paper on that five-year contract extension of his. It's against the Mariners' team policy to disclose the financial aspects of the deal, but it's likely to be worth about $100 million.

"While we did not publicly address negotiations, the one thing we have made clear since Spring Training was that it was our goal to have Ichiro play his entire career in Seattle, reitre as a Mariner and go into the Hall of Fame in our cap," Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi said in a release. "While I don't believe this it Ichiro's final contract, I do think today's signing is a big step in assuring he will spend his entire career here in Seattle."

A lot of people wonder how wise it is to give a 33-year-old singles hitter $20 million over the next five years, but there are two sides to the story. Sure, Ichiro's actual ability as a baseball player is bound to diminish over the course of this deal, but who knows how much money he actually brings into the organization.

Asked about how he felt on signing his new deal, Ichiro had this to say.

"My loins burn like the fire of a thousand suns for my relationship with the city of Seattle and it's people. My soul yearns for our fans, and my lone desire is to bring a World Series to them. Finally, Mike Hargrove sucks."

At least that's what I think he said. I don't understand Japanese. Well, that and the fact I never actually asked him. I just wanted to say "my loins burn like the fire of a thousand suns."

Previously at FanHouse:
Jeanne Zelasko Didn't Get The Ichiro Memo
M's Wait on Ichiro Announcement Due to Hargrove
Hargrove's Exit Could Keep Ichiro in Seattle

Jeanne Zelasko may not have been paying attention when Ken Rosenthal reported during last night's game that the Mariners and Ichiro Suzuki have come to terms on a new contract, or maybe she just doesn't hear very well after spending all those years in the pits of NASCAR races, but you can't really blame her for being unaware of Ichiro's contract situation. After all, if you ask Ichiro or the Mariners, they'll pretend they have no idea what you're talking about. Even Ichiro's agent will tell you that the two sides are still talking.

Yet there is one source, probably the same source Rosenthal got a hold of, that says the deal is basically done and has been for a while. It's just the Mariners are delaying the announcement to avoid a potential controversy.

One source said that the deal was essentially done, but that the club wanted to wait on making an announcement to put some distance between the July 1 resignation of manager Mike Hargrove and the announcement of Ichiro's deal.

It's not exactly a secret that when Hargrove first came to Seattle, he and Ichiro weren't exactly best friends. The relationship between the two got better as time passed, but the Mariners are still worried that announcing the new deal so close to Hargrove's resignation may make it seem as though Ichiro gave an "It's him or Ichiro," type ultimatum.

Mike Hargrove denies that's the case.

"If they had come to me and said it was me or Ichiro, I would never have left voluntarily," Hargrove said Tuesday. "They would have had to fire me, flat-out fire me. But that was never the case.

"I left on my own terms that had nothing to do with (Ichiro's contract)."

I don't doubt that Hargrove and the Mariners are telling the truth here, but at the same time I'm pretty sure Grover's announcement did nothing but accelerate the deal for Ichiro. Had Hargrove still been the Mariners manager for the rest of the season, I think Ichiro would have tested the market.

Previously at FanHouse:
Hargrove's Departure Could Keep Ichiro in Seattle
Jeanne Zelasko Didn't Get the Ichiro Memo
Ichiro is Fast: Watch His Inside-the-Parker