1:58pm: The deal also includes a $2MM option for 2017, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.
12:20pm: The Marlins have announced the re-signing of outfielder Ichiro Suzuki today, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro first reported on Twitter. The John Boggs client will receive a $2MM guarantee, per Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (via Twitter).
A reunion had largely been expected, and it seems that the sides chose to accomplish that by reaching agreement before the likely future Hall-of-Famer hit the open market. It’s not uncommon to see late-career veterans reach extension agreements of this kind when a mutually agreeable situation is at hand.
The club will probably look to give the 41-year-old somewhat less action in 2016 than he did this past season. With Giancarlo Stanton injured and Marcell Ozuna spending time in the minors, Ichiro ended up taking 438 plate appearances and playing in all but nine of the team’s games. That greater-than-anticipated usage did, however, allow the Japanese great to rack up some additional hits, leaving him just 65 shy of the 3,000-hit mark at season’s end.
Miami obviously likes Ichiro’s presence, and his milestone pursuit is not without its appeal. And he still rates as at least a league-average defender and baserunner. But things did not go so well on the offensive side of the equation, as he slashed an anemic .229/.282/.279 on the year for 2015.
That represents a drop off from an already-downward trend, as Ichiro has been consistently below average with the bat since the start of 2011. He was at least serviceable in 2014, earning him a one-year deal with a $2MM base guarantee and a variety of incentives. The Fish will hope that he can return to that level of offensive production (87 wRC+), though that could be the best-case scenario at this point.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Hopefully he hits #3000 on the road.
I was hoping he would get to finish his career with Seattle
Wow, that is an absolutely brutal OPS+, especially over so many at-bats. Granted, his BABIP was crazy low despite his ratio batting (LD% and GB/AO) being in line with career averages, but wow.
Knowing the Marlins they just signed him to milk the attention towards Ichiros 3,000th hit.
Well, yeah.
He had some bad luck at times this year, and then 3 different long stretches of slumps. Otherwise, he was valuable both on and off the field. Was fun to watch this year. He was better than his numbers. Glad he’ll be back. Hopefully, he won’t have to play as much next year. That being said, I hope he gets those 65 hits next year
I agree. He’s been an exceptional player and I hope he gets the 65 as well. It wlll always be fun to speculate where he would be had he started as a youngster in the USA. Would he be up with Pete Rose?
After his work on Sunday, the real question now will be whether they use him out of the bullpen or decide to stretch him out as a starter.