Mariners Bid $13 Million for Suzuki

The Seattle Mariners agreed to pay more than $13 million for the right to talk to a player few have seen play. Starting this weekend, teams will bring out the real big money.

As baseball’s general managers laid the groundwork for trades and signings at their annual meetings this week, the only major move came Thursday when the Mariners won the bidding rights to Japanese all-star Ichiro Suzuki.

The winning bid of $13,125,000 would be paid to Suzuki’s Japanese team--the Orix BlueWave--only if the Mariners sign the outfielder to a contract by 9 p.m. EST on Dec. 9.

“There’s always a risk with any player you sign--be it an amateur, a professional free agent or a player from another professional league,” Mariner General Manager Pat Gillick said. “Our people felt he was worth the risk. That’s why we made the bid we did.”

Suzuki, 27, hit .387 last season to win his seventh consecutive Pacific League batting title. Suzuki is a career .353 hitter with 118 home runs and 529 runs batted in in nine seasons in Japan.

Suzuki would be the first Japanese position player to make it in the majors. He is expected to sign with the Mariners because of the large Japanese population in Seattle and the presence of relief pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki, who was the American League rookie of the year in his first season after leaving Japan.