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SEATTLE -- Ichiro Suzuki is willing to play center field for the Seattle Mariners next year.

Ichiro Suzuki

Right Field Seattle Mariners Profile

2006 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI R OBP AVG 158 8 48 106 .370 .321

"He said he wants to play there, so that's good," manager Mike Hargrove said before Friday's game against Texas.

Hargrove met earlier this week with the six-time All-Star, who played 120 games in right field this season.

Suzuki started his 36th game in center field on Friday night. The experiment of moving Suzuki there began on Aug. 20 and he became a fixture in a position where seven players have started this season.

Jeremy Reed began the season there and started 55 games but struggled at the plate and was sidelined for the season after breaking his right thumb diving for a ball in early July. Seattle called up 21-year-old Adam Jones from Triple-A, but Jones has hit just .216 in 32 games.

Willie Bloomquist started 35 games, and Matt Lawton, Shin-Soo Choo and Joe Borchard also started in center. Lawton and Borchard were both released, and Choo was traded to Cleveland.

"Every indication he's given me is he enjoys playing center field," Hargrove said.

Suzuki declined to talk before Friday's game. Suzuki's contract expires after the 2007 season, and Mariners chief executive officer Howard Lincoln sounded as if an extension was in the works.

"All I can say is stayed tuned," Lincoln said.

When Suzuki made the move to center, it was just the fourth time in his career he started there and first time since Aug. 17, 2002, at Detroit.

Suzuki's move also gives the Mariners flexibility to add a corner outfielder -- preferably a left-handed hitter with power.

"He really is a good center fielder, and it's easier to find a corner man with a bat than it is a center fielder with a bat," Hargrove said.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press