Three up, three down: Ichiro Suzuki heads to front office; Astros closer Ken Giles struggles again

A look at who’s hot and who’s not in Major League Baseball:

THREE UP

Domo arigato: One of the most entertaining careers in major league history came to an unofficial end Friday, when Ichiro Suzuki agreed he would not play for the Mariners the rest of this season. We delighted for two decades in his unorthodox stance, his superb glove, arm and bat, and even in his wicked humor. “August in Kansas City is hotter than two rats [mating] in a wool sock,” he once said. Suzuki, 44, could sign a one-day contract next year, which could allow him to officially retire during the Mariners’ season-opening series in Japan. We’d like to see him become Minnie Minoso for a new generation, trotted out each decade by the Mariners for a pinch-hitting appearance or two. Minoso last played for the White Sox at 54, grounding out against the Angels and a pitcher half his age.

Brave new world: The Braves fielded a lineup this week with second baseman Ozzie Albies (21), outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (20) and pitcher Mike Soroka (20). They beat the Mets in the first game of a sweep that launched them into first place in the NL East, and it marked the first time in 12 years that a team had started a 20-year-old position player and a 20-year-old pitcher in a game before the September roster expansion. Somewhat obscured in the latest wave of the Braves’ youth movement: shortstop Dansby Swanson, the first overall pick in the 2015 draft, who was demoted to the minor leagues last season when he was batting .213. He’s batting .289 now. He’s 24. First baseman and MVP candidate Freddie Freeman? Only 28. He broke in at 20 too.

Haderade: Aroldis Chapman and Craig Kimbrel are the only pitchers in major league history to throw at least 30 innings and strike out half the batters they faced. Chapman struck out 52.4% in 2012; Kimbrel 50.2% in 2012. Here comes the Brewers’ Josh Hader, in his first full season, with 39 strikeouts in 62 batters — a rate of 63%. And he is not a one-inning specialist. On Monday, he got eight outs, all by strikeout. Imagine how powerful the Astros and their star-studded starting rotation would be with Hader in relief. In 2015, the Astros did have Hader, as a relatively undistinguished double-A prospect. They included the 19th-round draft pick as one of four prospects in a trade for pitcher Mike Fiers and outfielder Carlos Gomez. The Astros’ solution? Well, keep reading.

THREE DOWN

Punching bag: The Astros paid dearly to acquire their closer, trading five players to the Phillies for Ken Giles in 2015. Yet Giles was not the pitcher in the iconic picture last fall when the Astros got the last out of their first World Series title. After he blew a 10th-inning lead in Game 2 and a ninth-inning tie in Game 4, Giles did not pitch again in the series. The Astros used starter Charlie Morton to close out the Dodgers in Game 7. This year? After a run of seven consecutive hitless appearances, Giles gave up four hits to five batters on Tuesday, including a tie-breaking home run to the Yankees’ Gary Sanchez. His ERA is 5.23. After the Astros yanked him, Giles punched himself in the face.

Saber rattling: Bill James, who introduced analytics to untold numbers of fans, posted this provocative sentiment Thursday on Twitter: “Amazed at how many people think of Bryce Harper as a superstar. To me, he is nowhere NEAR that standard.” Harper, whose move to the leadoff spot last week highlighted the Nationals’ six-game winning streak, hit two home runs Friday, taking the NL lead in homers. The Nationals shot back on Twitter: “lol superstar Bryce Harper just hit his 2nd home run of the game (It’s the second inning.)” James, again on Twitter: “One thing never changes: People get very angry with you if you don’t agree with them about how good players are.”

Grow the game: As the Dodgers and Padres opened their series in Monterrey, Mexico, on Friday, Commissioner Rob Manfred made the media rounds and said the league would love to grow from 30 to 32 teams but added his years-old caveat: no expansion or relocation until the A’s and Rays resolve their searches for new parks. Manfred would be delighted to add a team in Mexico and another in Montreal, but there are no sure-fire U.S. markets available. So he’ll wait on Oakland and Tampa Bay. But patience cannot be infinite. The invaluable newballpark.org blog, which chronicles what it calls “the never ending quest for a proper home for the Oakland Athletics,” is 13 years old. If your stadium search is old enough to have its bar mitzvah, it’s gone on too long.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com

Follow Bill Shaikin on Twitter @BillShaikin