Yankees acquire Ichiro

[Johnny Mostil]

Originally Posted by JB98

Only if his bat speeds up. I suppose it's possible he'll hit more home runs with that short porch, but hitting home runs really isn't his thing.

Ichiro has been a terrific player over the last decade, but I really do think his game is in severe decline.

FWIW (and it may not be worth much), as near as I can tell, his batting average since the beginning of 2009, when the new Yankee Stadium opened, has been .303, while it's been .333 (21-for-63) in NY.

But, like I said, it may not be worth much. Not many ABs to judge, obviously, and I may have screwed up my calculations some way.

[Madvora]

I just looked at his stats. This is his 20th year in professional baseball. Incredible.

[IspepAloc]

I was surprised by the trade mainly because I didn't expect Ichiro to ever leave Seattle. Seemed like one of the few players in sports that came in with a team and would play his entire career with that team. At least now he is a heck of a lot closer to the playoffs than he was in the past few years with the Mariners. I think a lot of people have written him off and he'll use that as motivation. Look how well that's work for Youk.

[PatK]

Originally Posted by RKMeibalane

Is he? Remember, Ichiro was twenty eight years old when he made his Mariners debut in 2001. He's in his late thirties, so it's not surprising that he's declined, though I agree that it's somewhat puzzling to see a singles hitter see such a sharp drop in his batting average. Tony Gwynn maintained a high batting average throughout his career.

Well his wheels aren't the same as they were when he made his debut.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember Gwynn getting nearly as many high chop singles to the left side of the infield.