Monday’s surprising news that 10-time All-Star Ichiro Suzuki had been suddenly traded to the Yankees was great news for the men in pinstripes and should prove to be a great acquisition of a player who will play much better in his new surroundings. Why?
Though he’s now 38 years old and his 10-year string of .300 average with 200 hits in a season came to an end last season when he hit just .272 (which was made worse by the fact that he rarely walks) there was an important detail of yesterday’s trade that came out after the fact: the normally reserved Ichiro had actually requested the trade.
If there’s one thing Ichiro has been through his career in Seattle, it’s been incredibly consistent. Not just with his hitting but also with his glove, as evidenced by his streak of 10 straight Gold Glove awards that was snapped last season as well.
Even more than that, the ever-popular Ichiro has always been quiet and maintained a low profile. He just goes to work and does his job everyday (averaging 159 games played per season) and rarely do you hear a peep from him, despite the fact that Seattle hasn’t been relevant since 2007. In fact, they haven’t been to the playoffs since his MVP rookie season of 2001 when they won 116 games.
So for him to speak up and say he wants to be traded, even if it meant a position switch, a lower position in the batting order, as well as getting the day off against left-handed pitchers, it seemed to signal to the rest of the world that he knows he can still play—he just needs the thrill of a pennant chase to get him going.
What happens to Ichiro over the next couple of months is anyone’s guess of course but this does not look like a player whose skills have completely eroded. For one thing he still looks like he’s in great shape physically with his slender 5-foot, 11-inch, 170-pound frame still able to track down balls in the outfield. He’s also remained incredibly injury-free, having only once missed more than five games in a season.
In addition, his 40 steals last season (in just 47 attempts) ranked third in the league and at age 37 he was far and away the oldest in the top 10 (31-year-Coco Crisp, who had 49 steals was the second oldest).
Besides, there is plenty of precedence for aging stars reviving their careers on a pennant-chasing team.
In 2000, St. Louis needed a first baseman half-season rental and took a chance on 36-year-old Will Clark, who was with Baltimore at the time.
Clark, who was slugging .473 with 9 home runs in 79 games at the time of the trade, made an immediate impact. In 51 games he hit 12 home runs with 42 RBIs while posting a slugging percentage of .655 and a .345 batting average. In fact, his overall slugging of .546 that year turned out to be his second highest of his career.
Jack Morris was 36 years old when he left Detroit for Minnesota in 1991. The Tigers had averaged just 69 wins the previous two seasons and Morris’s numbers fell as well. The former Cy Young contender was a career worst 6–14 in ‘89 and then led the league in earned runs the next year with 125.
The Twins had better prospects for success in ‘91 and so a rejuvenated Morris joined them and led them to the World Series title with an 18–12 record.
Still rejuvenated the next season, he went up to Toronto and led them to their first World Series title, while leading the league with 21 wins.
Even former Yankee Dave Winfield, who hit a career worst .262 in ‘91 with the last-place Angels as a 39-year-old, came to Toronto the following season and helped teammate Jack Morris win the World Series, hitting .290 with 26 home runs while posting 108 RBIs.
However it works out, it’s a great bet by the Yankees.
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