Yankees sign Ichiro

[Jeffy25]

Wouldn't you love that? I think you like having your theories reaffirmed more than the game itself...

That said, let's make a bet on Ichiro this season. I say the old man does make a bounce back, as he showed signs of after the Yankees acquired him. Let's talk specifics.

It's what he has done the last three seasons, so it's not like it's a huge reach.

[HowFit]

Better than nothing...

[Robbw241]

I haven't been following this, but why were the Yankees not interested in resigned Nick Swisher? I think Swisher even over a 3-4 year contract would be better than signing Ichiro. was it a money issue? if they have that much of a money issue they shouldn't have wasted money by signing an old injury prone 3B since they already have an old injury prone 3B.

They want to get under 189 for next year so Youk's 1 year deal won't effect that. Something to do with tax, I forgot the specifics of the 189 number.

[SFrush90]

Wouldn't you love that? I think you like having your theories reaffirmed more than the game itself...

That said, let's make a bet on Ichiro this season. I say the old man does make a bounce back, as he showed signs of after the Yankees acquired him. Let's talk specifics.

He did not show signs of bouncing back with the Yankees.

His numbers with the Yankees are very misleading. He was only good at Yankee Stadium. One the road he was poor.

117 ABs @ Yankee Stadium- .358/.380/.564

109 ABs on the road with the Yankees- .284/.318/.339

Overall he was a poor hitter. The past three seasons he's been on the decline offensively and I don't expect him to hit that well except at Yankee Stadium. I'm sure he'll have misleading stats again that'll make him look better than he is because of Yankee Stadium.

[SpecialFNK]

Ichiro for 2 years?

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Yankees are still positive they'll retain Ichiro Suzuki, but they'll need to go to two years in order to get a deal done.
The Yankees were hoping to bring him back on a one-year contract, but expectations have changed in part because the Phillies were willing to offer a two-year, $14 million deal. Ichiro turned 38 in October and batted .283/.307/.390 this past season between the Mariners and Yankees.

[Jeffy25]

They could front load the hell out of it, and make it a one year deal. But it will end up costing them more, because of their luxury tax penalty.

If they want to be under it for next year. Ichiro will likely be a bench player, and need to take very little money.

Maybe if he would take something like 2/8, but the first year is 7 million. But I don't think that matters, I believe the luxury tax is per AAV (someone correct me if I'm wrong). So then it would still be 4 mil on their books.

[hugepatsfan]

He did not show signs of bouncing back with the Yankees.

His numbers with the Yankees are very misleading. He was only good at Yankee Stadium. One the road he was poor.

117 ABs @ Yankee Stadium- .358/.380/.564

109 ABs on the road with the Yankees- .284/.318/.339

Overall he was a poor hitter. The past three seasons he's been on the decline offensively and I don't expect him to hit that well except at Yankee Stadium. I'm sure he'll have misleading stats again that'll make him look better than he is because of Yankee Stadium.

I could live with that if he plays good defense in right and steals some bases out of the bottom of the order.

[Jeffy25]

I could live with that if he plays good defense in right and steals some bases out of the bottom of the order.

That would make him a below replacement level player, you know that right?

[hugepatsfan]

That would make him a below replacement level player, you know that right?

Yeah if he did that at home too. But his point was that his road #s are lower. I can live with a 9 hitter that gets on base at a 320 clip, steals bases, and plays good D for the road games.

I'm fine with Ichiro for 1 year. If it's more than that, I don't want him.

[grandsalami]

RT @JonHeymanCBS: ichiro, yankees deal will be for between $12-13M, still working on structure.

[SpecialFNK]

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that the Yankees and Ichiro Suzuki have agreed to a two-year, $13 million deal.
Ichiro turned down two two-year deals for a bit more money in order to re-sign with the Yankees. In all likelihood, it's probably the last contract the 39-year-old will sign. Ichiro batted .283/.307/.390 with nine homers and 29 steals this past season between the Mariners and Yankees. He'll fill one of the corner outfield spots for the Bombers.

this sounds like 2 years and $13 MIL total, not the $13 MIL per season it sounded like before.

[TheHughesUnit]

This doesn’t make sense at all. I won't be thrilled if he's receiving 2 years at the rumored range of $12-14 million. Ichiro is an exciting player and would make for a phenomenal 4th outfielder/pinch runner type for us but 2 years and at that salary range? And for a 39 year old who is reliant on the running game for the majority of his production? Plus we already have 2 lefty hitting starting outfielders already in Granderson and Gardner. Can’t say I’m ecstatic about this unless it’s for a VERY low base salary each season…but so far that doesn't seem to be the case.

If his salary approaches anything near what Martin’s new contract pays him I will be very upset. I thought it was mostly the second year that caused the Yankees to hesitate on signing Martin but they’ll be giving Ichiro that second year for just about the same salary…it just doesn’t make sense to me unless he will be getting paid substantially less than what Martin is. Martin provides more offense for a lineup that figures to have a drop-off in production next season and is in his prime so he is more of a sure thing. Plus he's one of the best pitch framers in the entire sport and is a great clubhouse guy by all accounts. Just look at the barren catcher's market right now. It's either sign overpriced garbage or give up very valuable assets in a trade since good catchers are few and far between nowadays. According to the salary rumors, the contracts will pretty much be a wash so I feel like the Yankees made a bad decision by spending their resources on Ichiro instead of Martin.

This makes perfect sense from a business look. Ichiro will make the Yankees millions, and he's pretty close to 3,000 hits. In 2014 the Yankees will hype it up, assuming he has a good and healthy 2013.

[Jeffy25]

This makes perfect sense from a business look. Ichiro will make the Yankees millions, and he's pretty close to 3,000 hits. In 2014 the Yankees will hype it up, assuming he has a good and healthy 2013.

He is not going to get his 3000th hit in the next two seasons.

[Gibby23]

He did not show signs of bouncing back with the Yankees.

His numbers with the Yankees are very misleading. He was only good at Yankee Stadium. One the road he was poor.

117 ABs @ Yankee Stadium- .358/.380/.564

109 ABs on the road with the Yankees- .284/.318/.339

Overall he was a poor hitter. The past three seasons he's been on the decline offensively and I don't expect him to hit that well except at Yankee Stadium. I'm sure he'll have misleading stats again that'll make him look better than he is because of Yankee Stadium.

Where do the Yankees play?

[SFrush90]

Where do the Yankees play?

That's why I said this. http://forums.prosportsdaily.com/sho...6&postcount=16 And my post you quoted was in response to someone who said he bounced back as a Yankee and I was arguing he didn't.

But still, why sign a player that's good only 50% of the time and especially for 6.5M/year? Not a good move.