Ichiro to Yankees

[Skrappy1]

That was my thought, as clearly Seattle got cockandball$. But they did get salary relief, which the Yankees are well-known for taking advantage of. It's been harder to do in recent years, but this one clearly is that.

Actually, the Mariners are picking up the large majority or his remaining salary. If you remove April 2011 from the equation, Ichiro has been roughly a .265/.300/.350 guy for the last year and a half. Despite his name, there just isn't anything there worth more than what the Mariners got in return.

[B-Fly]

I know he's nowhere near the player he used to be, but it's still really fun and exciting as a Yankee fan to have Ichiro on the team! Yay!!!!

[gcstomp]

In the "what have you done for me lately" sense Ichiro may appear not be be worth much in real baseball. Even at this point he has been roto positive value as a basestealer. Not totally fair to dismiss a 1st ballot hof guy, one of the all time greats in the historical sense if not totally baseball stats sense, as not worth more than a pair of middling no name prospects. Ichiro wants to go out on a contender, & I think he will have a vastly improved line the rest of the way.

[joncarlos]

Well, my favorite player is now on the Yankees. I'm still not sure I've processed this yet. I know he is not what he used to be. It's fine for him to start when Swisher is out, and when Swish gets back, it's probably better to have him in LF than to have Ibanez clomping around out there. But I hope Joe keeps playing Andruw against lefties and doesn't mind sitting Ichiro down sometimes.

Amazing that Girardi can look at an over-the-hill veteran from another team, recognize his flaws and bat him 8th instead of at the top of the order. If only he could be that reflective of his own team. Cough... Jeter... cough.

[B-Fly]

Well, my favorite player is now on the Yankees. I'm still not sure I've processed this yet. I know he is not what he used to be. It's fine for him to start when Swisher is out, and when Swish gets back, it's probably better to have him in LF than to have Ibanez clomping around out there. But I hope Joe keeps playing Andruw against lefties and doesn't mind sitting Ichiro down sometimes.

Amazing that Girardi can look at an over-the-hill veteran from another team, recognize his flaws and bat him 8th instead of at the top of the order. If only he could be that reflective of his own team. Cough... Jeter... cough.

If Gardner were healthy this season, there might be an argument for moving Jeter from the leadoff spot. As it is, there aren't really better options for them right now, except perhaps for the intriguing possibility of A-Rod, whose on base and base running skills have remained strong even as his power has declined.

[TranaGreg]

When I heard the news today my first response was, "Good for Ichi." He's only been part of one playoff team (the 116 win "rookie" campaign). He's been an amazing player to watch, but the facts clearly show that he's a far-cry from what he used to be.

this was my reaction too.

my one Ichiro-story that I can add ... we occassionally get tix to the Rogers Centre that are field level 1st row down the RF line, right by the ballboy that sits down there & warms up the visiting team's RF between innings. We were there for a Jays/Mariners game in June & started talking to the ballboy about which RFers were the scariest to play catch with (the kid was 15) - he said no question, it's Ichiro ... if you can catch Ichiro you can catch anyone.

[kawaise]

An acquaintance of mine wrote this in today's paper that I think reflects many M's fans take on the popularity of Ichiro:

"Despite a multitude of accomplishments that included two batting championships, 10 Gold Gloves and breaking an 84-year major league record for single-season hits, Ichiro was never embracced by the Mariner faithful to the same extent as was Ken Griffey, Jr. and Edgar Martinez. Language and cultural differences probably contributed to that attitude, as did Ichiro's reserved personality." - Rick Anderson, The Daily World

I know it's not the best way to run an organization, but Big Z said in interview the day of the trade that when Ichiro approached management about wanting a trade to NY, they did the best to accomodate his wishes - the organization felt that they owed him that respect.

It seems odd that a team would throw money in a deal TO the Yanks - historically, it seems that the Yanks were always willing to take on salary.

[madducks]

Yankees lineup tonight had 3 players (Jeter, ARod, Ichiro) with 2500+ career hits. Wonder if that is a first?

answer: The 1927 Philadelphia Athletics are the only other team to have three players with 2500+ career hits at the time they played together. Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, and Zack Wheat. For the record, there are only 95 players with 2500 hits, so the chance of three of them being on the same team in the twilight of their careers is very small.

[B-Fly]

answer: The 1927 Philadelphia Athletics are the only other team to have three players with 2500+ career hits at the time they played together. Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, and Zack Wheat. For the record, there are only 95 players with 2500 hits, so the chance of three of them being on the same team in the twilight of their careers is very small.

And if King Felix were around, he would've hit all three of those guys, too.

[kawaise]

answer: The 1927 Philadelphia Athletics are the only other team to have three players with 2500+ career hits at the time they played together. Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, and Zack Wheat. For the record, there are only 95 players with 2500 hits, so the chance of three of them being on the same team in the twilight of their careers is very small.

Add the 1928 Philadelphia A's to that list. That team had Cobb, Collins, and Tris Speaker (it was both Cobb's and Speaker's last seasons played in their careers).

[Judge Jude]

yes, the 1927-28 A's have some of the coolest wind-downs ever.