PEORIA, Ariz. -- The relationship Ken Griffey Jr. has with Ichiro Suzuki could go a long way in bringing peace and harmony back to the Mariners clubhouse, former Seattle manager John McLaren said Saturday.

"I was very happy to hear that Junior is coming back to Seattle," McLaren said during a telephone interview from his Peoria home. "It's a great fit. It's a win-win-win situation."

Griffey's return to the Mariners became official on Saturday at the Peoria Sports Complex, where he signed a one-year, $2 million contract that includes up to $2.5 million in incentive bonuses.

He will begin workouts on Sunday morning.

"It's a win for the fans, who embraced him so much when he came back with the Reds [in '07]," McLaren said. "He received a magnificent reception and he responded.

"It's also a win for the organization, because of his history there.

"And it's a win for the players, because I think Ken can be a force in the clubhouse that pulls everyone together. I think he and Ichiro have a great rapport and mutual respect for each other. I believe Ken can help improve the communication between Ichiro and the other players. I really think he can be the common thread to do that."

McLaren was the first person to raise the "clubhouse divided" issue last summer that took on a life of its own and played a major role in a number of dismissals -- including his own.

McLaren's "dream" job ended on June 19, three days after general manager Bill Bavasi was dismissed. Several days later, during a conference call with Mariners beat writers, McLaren said: "The team has internal issues that need to be addressed for them to move forward successfully."

"I think we have a good group of guys," he added. "But I think there's a little tension and friction in there, a little jealousy. That's for the guys to work out. We [the coaching staff] tried to, and we weren't very successful. I think they have to do it on their own."

But the Mariners never developed warm and fuzzy feelings for each other, the team was called "dysfunctional" by Bavasi, and it went on to lose 101 games -- the first triple-digit loss in 25 years.

McLaren, now working as a scout for the American League champion Rays, believes Griffey can help bring fun and joy back to the clubhouse, just because of who he is, how he acts, and how he plays.

"At this stage of his career, he can do a lot of things besides being a good ballplayer," McLaren said. "He has leadership qualities that would come in handy right now."

When asked during Saturday's introductory press conference about whether the Mariners could overcome their clubhouse differences, Griffey said: "They're going to have to. We're here for one reason, and that's to win ballgames. You're going to have your feuding in there. But that is not going to carry over to the field. That's just the way it is.

"I mean, you're just not going to like somebody and he's not going to like you. But you're going to go out there and play. And you're going to give the other seven or eight guys on that field a chance to win. And that's just the way it's going to be."

Mariners president Chuck Armstrong agrees that Griffey's presence in the clubhouse would heal previous wounds.

"I think [Griffey] can bring players together, at home and on the road, and I'm sure Ichiro would be open to that," Armstrong told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "When I was first practicing law, our senior partner would wander through the office around 5 o'clock and start talking with the young lawyers. He might break open something to drink and start telling us about the firm's history and its people, what it meant to be a lawyer, and talk about issues like ethics.

"It was kind of an elder-statesman thing, and it was important to connect us with what we were doing."

Ichiro, who's in Japan preparing for the World Baseball Classic, sent a comment to Mariners officials to express his excitement about playing with Griffey.

"In 1993, 16 years ago, I bought a Ken Griffey Jr. jersey," Ichiro said in the statement. "This is one of my treasures to this day. He has always been a hero to me, and being able to play with him is like a dream come true. Now we share a dream. And that dream is to work hard together and win the World Series."

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu addressed the "divided clubhouse" issue last week, saying he was aware of the internal issues a year ago and wants to get everyone to be on the same page and pointed in the same direction by the time Spring Training ends.

Griffey, 39, played with perhaps the best leader in franchise history in Jay Buhner.

Buhner was one of a kind, keeping everyone in the clubhouse on the straight-and-narrow and if anyone veered off path just a little, he was there to fix the problem.

"I'm not sure Kenny would be like Jay," McLaren said, "but the thing about [Griffey] is that he is one of those energy guys with an infectious smile. He has fun playing baseball, and that's what stands out when I think about him. He took A-Rod under his wing, until they had a falling out.

"Ken is a really, really good person and he will be especially good for the young players," McLaren added. "He will take [Wladimir] Balentien and [Franklin] Gutierrez under his wing."

McLaren, who coached for the Mariners during the glory years (1993-02) and again in '07 before becoming the manager halfway through the season when Mike Hargrove unexpectedly resigned, believes third baseman Adrian Beltre "is a leader in his own right, but some guys don't like to call out a teammate."

"Jose Guillen was a leader. He called players out [in '07], and we missed that [in '08].

"I'm not sure what kind of leader Ken would be, but I think he will be good for Ichiro and the rest of the team."