MLB

Ichiro very interested in returning to Yankees

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants were working hard to obtain Ichiro Suzuki before the Yankees did in late July and probably would have interest in the free agent this winter. But a person close to Ichiro told me he strongly wants to stay with the Yankees because he so enjoyed playing in a professional, winning atmosphere with so many contemporaries near his age range.

The friend said he can’t imagine money being a factor, noting that to make matters work when he wanted to be in Seattle, Ichiro deferred $5 million a year on his last long-term contract. The implication was that a one-year deal, perhaps with an option, in the $5 million-to-$8 million range might get it done.

But the Yankees still plan to build around lefty power, which makes it more difficult to shoehorn both Ichiro and Brett Gardner onto the roster unless the Yankees plan to downgrade Gardner to more of a fourth-outfielder type. Brian Cashman said yesterday, “We haven’t had our pro scouting meetings yet, when we do we will rank the available players and we will see where [Ichiro] ranks and how it fits once everyone starts engaging the market [in trades and free agency].”