Looking to trim payroll, the new ownership of the Miami Marlins has declined the team option on outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.
The Miami Marlins recently declined Ichiro Suzuki‘s $2 million team option for the 2018 season. Ichiro spent the last three seasons with the Marlins, but his playing time declined with each passing year, falling to a career low 215 plate appearances in 2017. After 17 seasons and 3080 career hits, 44-year-old Ichiro Suzuki is a free agent.
With a good, young outfield of Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich, it was difficult for Ichiro to get playing time this year. He only started 23 games, so the bulk of his work came as a pinch-hitter and defensive replacement. As a pinch-hitter, he set the single-season mark for plate appearances and had the second-most pinch-hits ever in a season. Ichiro came up one hit short of John Vander Wal’s 28 pinch-hits in 1995.
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Marlins manager Don Mattingly had nothing but praise for Ichiro, saying,
"He could definitely play more than he’s played this year, for sure. I use him in all three spots. You trust him in center field, you trust him anywhere you put him on the field."
Ichiro is well-known for his work ethic and almost fanatical approach to maintaining his fitness. During spring training he was spotted in a trailer using machines from World Wing Enterprise, a company that researches advanced training concepts. Ichiro has maintained his body using the training concept known as Beginning Movement Load Theory. There’s no question that his body is healthy enough to continue to play baseball.
Unfortunately, while the body may be willing, the statistics suggest Ichiro is straddling the line of replacement-level. In his three years with the Marlins, he had two seasons below that threshold sandwiched around one season with 1.4 Wins Above Replacement (Fangraphs WAR).
Of the 349 players with 200 or more plate appearances last year, Ichiro ranked 304th in the hitting metric wRC+, which adjusts for league and ballpark effects. He was 25 percent below-average as a hitter. By this metric, he’s been a below average hitter in six of the last seven years.
He also isn’t as fast as he used to be, which likely contributed to his .297 Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP). In his younger days, Ichiro had seasons with BABIPs in the .350 to .400 range. He could hit a slow ground ball to short and easily beat the throw to first for a base hit.
He no longer has the speed he had when he first came over to the U.S. from Japan in 2001. According to statcast, Ichiro’s sprint speed of 26.5 feet per second ranked 324th of 451 players on the leaderboard. He had the same sprint speed as Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager and Cleveland outfielder Jay Bruce. Those guys are not known for their wheels.
Next: Possible Ozuna trade destinations
All that being said, Ichiro would be an asset in the clubhouse for any team that signs him. He’s a great example for young players with his professionalism and work ethic. In an article at the Sun Sentinel in late September, Ichiro said he’d like to play until he’s 50 and hoped to be back with the Marlins next year. That doesn’t look like it will happen now, but perhaps another team will give him a chance to continue his Hall of Fame career.