Ichiro Unlikely To Be Dealt

Larry Stone of the Seattle Times runs through the Mariners situation as sellers.  He considers Richie Sexson, Jose Vidro, Kenji Johjima, Miguel Batista, and Carlos Silva as untradeable due to either  performance or contract, or both.

Stone also doesn’t see Ichiro Suzuki going anywhere:

"The hot topic is Ichiro, who has a limited no-trade clause in his contract. The big question is whether he has a de facto full no-trade clause coming from Japan. The industry belief is that Hiroshi Yamauchi, calling the Mariners’ shots from Kyoto, would never allow Ichiro to be dealt. I believe that, too."

He entertains the possibility that Ichiro could get himself traded out of Seattle if he requested a trade himself, but all indications are that he is committed to remaining in Seattle.

Ken Rosenthal confirms this in his latest Full Count video, adding that if Seattle ownership wasn’t equally committed to Ichiro, they would have dealt him last year before signing him to a 5-year $90MM contract.