Mariners notebook: Roster trimmed to 25; Mallex Smith on his way to Seattle

SEATTLE – And then there were 25. The Mariners have trimmed the roster from the 28-man travel squad they took to Japan to a 25-man roster ahead of Thursday’s home opener against the Boston Red Sox.

Table Setter: What we learned from Mariners’ sweep in Japan

Here are the moves the Mariners made Saturday:

Optioned to AAA Tacoma

RHP Dan Altavilla
OF Braden Bishop

Retired

OF Ichiro Suzuki

With the moves, the Mariners’ 40-man roster is currently at 39.

The Mariners’ bullpen, which was one of the areas of intrigue entering spring training, will include the following players.

RHP Hunter Strickland
RHP Chasen Bradford
RHP Matt Festa
RHP Cory Gearrin
RHP Nick Rumbelow
LHP Zac Rosscup
LHP Roenis Elías
RHP Brandon Brennan (Rule 5 draft pick)

The Mariners have brought additional players not on their 40-man roster, including Kyle Lewis, Evan White and Jake Fraley, to Seattle for their two exhibition games at T-Mobile Park against the Padres on Monday and Tuesday.

‘Very unique person and a great player’

Manager Scott Servais reflected in his office Saturday on what transpired in the final hours the team was in Japan amidst the announcement of Ichiro’s retirement.

“After the game I don’t think I will ever forget going back out into the stadium and seeing Ichiro take the lap and our entire team embracing the whole situation and taking it all in,” Servais said. “There are certain things you remember throughout the course of your career and I talked to our team about that after the game with Ichiro in there. Throughout the course of your career you run across a lot of really unique people and some really great players. And when you combine it, a very unique person and a great player, that’s why Ichiro is one of the all-time, the best to play the game.”

Servais wouldn’t say how long he had known that Ichiro was going to retire but did admit that he knew “for a little while.”

Notes

• Mallex Smith will join the team Sunday in Seattle. While the Mariners were in Japan, Smith was able to get about 30 at-bats and played one game in the outfield in Arizona as he continued to work his way back from an early-spring training arm injury. He will play in the exhibition games against the Padres and if all goes well should be ready for the home opener.

• Servais confirmed the pitching order for series against the Red Sox will be Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Mike Leake and Wade LeBlanc.

Drayer: Barrier-breaking Mariners legend Ichiro puts bat down for good