Of all the players I never thought would end up on the Yankees, especially at the 2012 trade deadline, Ichiro Suzuki most definitely would’ve been at the top of that list. As he was entrenched in Seattle as the long-time face of the Mariner franchise, we had no idea he was even available. But, apparently, he requested the trade, wanting to help the Mariners get better for the future. The Yankees obliged his request, acquiring him yesterday for D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar; the Yankees also received cash and are only paying $2.25M of Ichiro’s remaining salary, while the M’s will pick up about $4.5M.
In just about every way, this deal makes a lot of sense for the Yankees. While Ichiro surely isn’t what he used to be, he can still play defense in the outfield and steal bases and with Brett Gardner out, the Yankees didn’t have those elements. Now they do. Ichrio’s ability to play the field will mean less time in the outfield for Raul Ibanez, which will help the Yankees’ team defense and help Ibanez stay healthy and effective. Of course that’s what the Yankees get; what about what they gave? Farquhar was a waiver-wire pick up this year and I’m sure the Yankees won’t miss him much. D.J. Mitchell has some okay upside, maybe a mid-rotation guy and that’s obviously valuable. However, the Yankees have at least one clone of him (Adam Warren) and one guy who’s just about the same, maybe a little better (David Phelps). While Mitchell is a nice piece to have around, he’s certainly replaceable.
Again, this isn’t the Ichiro of our relative youth. This year’s incarnation is hitting just .261 with a .288 OBP and a .353 SLG. Strangely enough, that grades out to a .092 Iso, the highest Ichiro’s had since his .113 mark in ’09. Also low is his .279 BABIP, down from .295 last year (which was down from the year before that…and the year before that…you get the idea). Taking a peak at his batted ball profile, we see a few things. First, we see a sky-high line-drive rate, which shows he should probably have a better BABIP than .297. However, he’s also hitting more pop-ups than usual and bunting for a hit at a much, much lower rate than he usually does. If we punch his current batting line into the xBABIP calculator found here, we get a .349 BABIP (!) instead of a .279 BABIP. That makes it seem like he’s due for a large correction, but we shouldn’t necessarily count on it. That’s a lot to ask of a player, even one who’s as good at making contact as Ichiro is. Of course, getting him under Kevin Long’s tutelage could help.
We can see here that Ichiro’s had a bit of an issue with pitches that are low and in and up and in. Perhaps K-Long and Robinson Cano can get Ichiro on board with the “HR-drill” that stresses pulling the ball with power. While Ichiro’s never displayed much power, perhaps he can indulge himself with the short-porch in right field.
Like we must with any aging star coming to a new team, we must temper our expectations for Ichiro in New York. The chances that we see the Ichiro of old are extremely low. All he need to do is make some contact, steal some bases, and play some good defense in left/right. If he can do all that, he’ll be golden and we’ll be happy. Welcome to the Yankees, Ichiro. We’ll be in your corner.
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14 Responses to Fitting in Ichiro
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TIQ IQ
I understand we should temper expectations, but it’s a lot better than trading the farm for Victorino, Upton or Span. Also we can give Granderson a rest in CF and add some speed on the base paths.
Play him in right field until Swisher comes back. Everyday left fielder once Swisher returns. If you dont do that your wasting his defensive prowess, rocket arm and speed which will fit in very well in left field at Yankee stadium. Lets the 40 year old Ibanez stay off his legs which should make him a better offensive player. Jones goes back to role player and part time DH too. Even if Ichiro doesnt return his defense, contact, and baserunning skills make him a better upgrade over Wise and allows Jones and Ibanez to be used in situations that will most benefit them. Considering what they gave up (nothing), I dont see how this deal can turn out bad.
I agree with you, but I think Jones will get to play at least some in LF when the Yanks face a lefty. They can the use a few of those games to play Nix at SS and Jeter at DH.
Not me. Never liked the guy, didn’t want him on my team even when he was in his prime and I want him even less now that he’s an overpaid scrub.
So you’ll root for him to make outs at the plate and drop balls in the OF?
No, but it won’t break my heart if he flops and gets DFAd.
Besides, given how he’s been hitting I won’t have to root for him to make outs – he’s managing that quite nicely on his own.
Why wouldn’t you havee wanted him on the Yankees when he was leading the entire league in hits yearly, setting records while doing so?
I think that pretentious one-name crap was disrespectful to the game and to all of the great players who had preceded him who never demanded anything so selfishly egomaniacal. And wasn’t he the guy that bunted for a hit with a runner in scoring position when he was chasing the single-season hit record?
I don’t normally put a lot of stock in Joel Sherman but he points out in today’s column that the M’s weren’t exactly heartbroken to see Suzuki go precisely because his prima donna act had really worn thin once he stopped hitting.
Ichiro is his family name, Suzuki is his given name, so he was wearing his family name on his back. I suppose George Herman Ruth going by “The Babe”, or any of the other 100 arrogant nicknames he had, was also disrespectful?
I don’t care what kind of attitude he had or has I would’ve loved to seen him in his prime in pinstripes. It also seems kind of odd to route for him, or at least take joy in, his possible designation.
The Yankees asked Ichiro to agree to several concessions before he waived his no trade, in fact you could say he wanted to be a Yankee more than they wanted him. He was told he had to accept hitting at the bottom of the order, change positions, and and be willing to sit against lefties. He agreed to every one of them without question. Of course he has an ego, everyone in sports has a major one, but he’s clearly commited to the Yankees and winning.
Well I guess then Hideki Matsui and Hiroki Kuroda should demand the same thing – right?
Ruth is not in in any way a valid comparison – “Babe” was a childhood nickname and “The Babe” was an invention of sportswriters. He never demanded to be referred to only by that name and in the record book and in box scores you see “Ruth” not “The Babe”. And even if he had, given what he had actually accomplished in major league baseball, (not some glorified AAA league where guys like Tuffy Rhodes were superstars) he would have had orders of magnitude more justification than Suzuki did.
Suzuki had accomplished exactly nothing in MLB when he demanded that silly privilege. Who’d he think he was, Willie Mays?
Ruth is >>>>>> Suzuki even in the best days Suzuki ever had.
Sure he’s agreed to a bunch of concessions to come to NY – he’s lucky he still has a uniform based on his production level.
I was wrong Ichiro is his given name, however it wasn’t his idea to make it his only used name. He started using the name Ichiro on the back of his jersey in 1994 in Japan when his manager came up with the idea. Suzuki is the most common family name in Japan, so his manager thought it would be a good publicity stunt for an average team, and a good way to distinguish a young risingh star. What I read said Ichiro was originally embarressed by this but grew to accept and embrace it later on.
You can have whatever opinion you wanty, you’re entitled to such. It just seems like you have a lot of venom for a man you’ve never met, for a very silly reason.
He’s still good enough to be a major league player, tons of worse players still have roster spots. Let’s not act like he isn’t a first ballot HOFer here and shouldn’t get the respect to go along with such. You act like he hasn’t proven himself to be one of the greatest pure hitters of all time.
It may not have been his idea but he sure didn’t do anything to discourage it once he came to the States. I can’t knock him for going along with a promotional scheme in Japan but once he came here he should’ve shown a little humility and put a stop to it.
I don’t have to have met the man to disapprove of his actions. And by the way, since you brought up silly reasons, have you ever met Suzuki?
Tons of worse players still have roster spots? Only 14 current players have a worse wOBA than Suzuki and only 17 have a lower wRC+. Yes, Suzuki has had a much better career than all of those guys but that’s in the past. Right now he’s right down there with them. Hell, even Ruth was lucky to have a uniform at the end of his career.
Why should he have stopped doing something he had been doing for 7 years? He was already a giant star in Japan and was coming over the US with a ton of fan fair. I would also say he did show quite a bit of humility in his move to the States because when he was issued number “51″ by the Mariners he sent Randy Johnson (the previous wearer of the number) a letter promising not to bring shame to his jersey number. That doesn’t seem like something someone with no respect for the American game, or the greats who have played the game before, would do to me.
I’ve never met Ichiro Suzuki, no, which is why I don’t have any venom towards the man. I’ve heard stories of him liking to do things his way, but I feel no anger or disrespect from the man.
Cameron Maybin is starter in this league with lower numbers across the board, playing worse defense according to the metrics. The same can be said for Jeff Francoeur. The point being while he has slipped he is certainly not “lucky” to be wearing a uniform. He has earned the right to wear said uniform and while he is struggling he is still not the worst player in the league. He’ll get more leeway with his bad numbers than other players because of his past accomplishments, as will any star, but I just find it disrespectful to say he is “lucky”.
he is going to be great, they should leave him in right, a canon arm welcome …what ever you want to be called..he still may get real close to 200 hundred hits