When the New York Yankees acquired Ichiro from the Seattle Mariners on Monday night, the initial reaction was a lot of shock and awe. But when you started to look at the numbers and performance, that shock turned to a lot of ambivalence.
The Mariners made the best deal they could, because Ichiro was going to be a free agent at the end of the season. Given where this franchise is at now, they had no reason to re-sign him, which would have been a public relations nightmare.
The Yankees did need to add depth to the outfield after reports came out this weekend that Brett Gardner was likely done for the season after undergoing surgery on his right elbow.
Ichiro is the kind of name that Yankees' fans love to see their team go after, but to assume that he is going to miraculously go back to being the player he once was just because he puts on the pinstripes is arrogance more than anything else.
Given that Ichiro has never been a patient hitter, his value with the bat was always tied to his ability to hit for average. Considering that he is 38 years old and his bat has slowed considerably, he is not going to be much better than the .261/.288/.352 line he has posted this season.
None of this is to say that Ichiro is without value. He still hits right-handed pitching well enough (278/.332/.408 in 245 at-bats) and his defense in right field is still as good as anyone in baseball.
It is not like the Yankees gave up a lot to get what essentially amounts to an above-average platoon player, but the idea that Ichiro will be the piece that puts them over the top in the second half of the season is delusional.
Yankees fans just have to accept that this is what Ichiro is at this stage of the game. He is going to fit well in the outfield mix that includes Nick Swisher, Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones. But he is a star in name alone.
Colin Curtis Kevin Russo Curtis Granderson Nick Johnson Javier Lopez Alex Hinshaw
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