Ichiro Apparently Staying Put
by Jon Shields ~ June 26th, 2008
A Seattle Mariners fire sale is expected before the July 31st trade deadline. Most of the young nuclease should be protected– Felix, Betancourt, Clement, Balentien, Morrow, Lopez, etc– and some believe all of the veteran players should be made available, including Ichiro Suzuki.
That isn’t the case, according to Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman. He wrote that three GM’s have been told that he is unavailable, one GM mentioning that he is nearly untradeable as “Mr. Mariner.” Heyman thinks it’s a good idea to deal Ichiro, one of the reasons being his alleged contributions toward bad team chemistry.
I wouldn’t be opposed to trading Ichiro. Sure, he’s great and one of the faces of the franchise, but imagine the kind of package he could bring in. If I were the GM I would look to keep Ichiro, but accept offers incase something comes in that’s too good to pass up.
I’m not opposed to keeping Ichiro, either, which appears to be the plan… for now.
As for other players, any veteran players should be available. Bedard, Washburn, Rhodes, Batista, Ibanez, etc. etc. It’s no fun going through these rebuilds, especially when fan favorites are involved, like a Rauuuuul or Putz, but it has to happen in order to move forward.
5 Responses to Ichiro Apparently Staying Put
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1 June 26th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Putz might be the first on my list to be traded (We have TWO guys to replace him now as far as I’m concerned)…Followed by Bedard, Raul, Beltre and Johjima…
2 June 26th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
As far as I’m concerned, I personally wouldn’t mind trading Ichiro, but if you think about how much revenue he generates, it makes it all the tougher to trade him.
It may sound crazy, but Rhodes might bring us some decent prospects…seems contending teams always need the left handed relief pitcher.
Raul is a free agent after the season (right?) and by moving him we could use balentien or reed in left field everyday for the rest of the season and hopefully have them a little more ready for next season.
3 June 27th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I agree with Brian that Putz should be the first person to be traded mainly because we have Morrow waiting and possibly even Fields if he is really going to be ready soon. Next would be Washburn and/or Batista because they really are not doing anything good for the team anymore.
As for Ichiro I would be fine trading him if we could get enough for him.
4 June 27th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Did anybody ever consider that our Japanese ownership might be opposed to trading Ichiro? I think the only thing we could gain from trading him is that we would cost a couple pretty pennies, or in this case, top prospects. I think that keeping him would be better, simply because he is a one of a kind player that has infinite value with his speed, defense, and leadoff ability.
I like the prospect draw he could get, but I doubt Nintendo of Seattle (Mariners) would deal their main man.
5 June 28th, 2008 at 7:59 am
I agree Dustin. I don’t think the ownership would trade Ichiro. He’s our cash cow and the icon of our team. THERE’S NO WAY ICHIRO GETS TRADED…He’s as untouchable as Felix right now as far as I’m concerned…