The Seattle Mariners will induct Ichiro Suzuki into the team’s Hall of Fame during the 2022 season, the club announced Wednesday.

SEATTLE – After four days of feeling the warmth of the Southern California sunshine at the Major League Baseball general managers meeting and listening to MLB executives and high-level agents lament the looming lockout Dec. 2 and the transaction freeze that would coincide with it, most people were left with two glaring realizations:

Yes, the unofficial start of a Seattle Mariners offseason filled with expectations — some realistic and more than a few unrealistic — began with a picture of high-level cuisine from Marmite on Capitol Hill, elegantly plated and looking quite tasty despite any negative thoughts of consuming the Easter Bunny.

Mariners pitcher Yusei Kikuchi decided to decline a $13 million player option for the 2022 season, which went into effect when the team declined the club option.

Multiple Major League Baseball sources confirmed that Seager received official notification that the Mariners would not exercise his 2022 option in an email from assistant general manager Justin Hollander on Thursday.

After winning his first Gold Glove award in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford showed it wasn’t a 60-game flash of brilliance by following it up with possibly an even better 2021 season.

The “Kid” who helped made baseball cool, the All-Star center fielder who helped keep baseball in Seattle, the Hall of Famer who has a statue of his oft-imitated swing in front of T-Mobile Park will now be something more than an icon and special consultant to the franchise he made recognizable.

Those three magical days of sold-out games, of meaningful baseball, offered a reminder of all that it once was and an understanding of what it could be again.

The comebacks started before a pitch was thrown in the 2021 season. And before “Believe” became a thing at T-Mobile Park, there was belief in themselves when most others didn’t.

The Seattle Mariners co-opted the Ted Lasso meme “Believe” as their slogan for the stretch drive, and rode it all the way to Game 162. The M’s really did follow the television show’s script to the letter. Remember, AFC Richmond — Lasso’s fictional team — also fell agonizingly short of its goal, losing the season’s final game to Manchester City to ensure relegation out of the Premier League.

There are two ways to view this Seattle Mariners season and what it means for the team and the city. Two ways to process the unforeseen playoff push that ultimately extended the organization’s 20-year postseason drought. One is the sentimental way. The other is the realistic way.