SEATTLE — Mariners outfielder Nori Aoki has been here before.
Playing his first season for a new team saddled with an extended postseason drought and trying to reverse a losing culture that infected the entire organization.
He played for the 2014 Kansas City Royals.
“I think it’s very similar,” Aoki said. “The atmosphere and the environment. We’re all trying to play as a whole and not be selfish. We want to keep the lineup long.
“I feel that like I felt that in Kansas City. In team meetings or hitters meetings, we all share each other’s opinion. We stay together as a group and try to become a better group.”
The 2014 Royals advanced to the World Series. Aoki then signed with San Francisco as a free agent — the team that beat the Royals in the Series. So he wasn’t around last season when Kansas City won the crown.
Aoki was a free agent again last winter and signed a one-year deal with the Mariners that includes a vesting option for next season that triggers at 480 plate appearances.
“When you break down a lot of our games,” he said, “we win a lot of games by one run. That’s very similar (to Kansas City in 2014).
“That tells you we’re very patient and sticking together as a team and believing in ourselves. That tells you, as a whole, we’re not giving up.”
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