Free Agent Ichiro Suzuki has been vocal through his agent that he is seeking to play in 2018.
There have been MLB free agency rumors in recent days regarding Ichiro Suzuki and the potential of playing next season. In a recent MLB.com interview, Ichiro has aspirations to play yet another season in the MLB in 2018.
"“I feel like a big dog at a pet shop that hasn’t been sold,” he said last month in Japan. “Of course, I want to play baseball next year.”"
This is not surprising if you have followed his play in the recent years. He has been vocal in the past saying he wants to play past the age of 50 and will play until teams do not sign him. That may actually be this year for the 44-year-old.
With still a plethora of free agents out on the market left to grab, much younger I might add, it is hard to believe that Ichiro will get a call over any of them. This has left the baseball legend searching for alternatives if that will be the case.
If that situation arises, Ichiro has not ruled out spiking up in Japan if need be to continue playing the game he loves. Here is another excerpt when asked if Japan is still an option if nothing pans out:
"“When you use the word ‘possibility,’ there are many things — it means anything is possible as long as it’s not zero.”"
Personally, I love Ichiro as a player and what he has brought to the game of baseball. Thinking about his days of racking up 200 plus hit seasons, he is similar to what we see in Jose Altuve for the Astros.
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His career has been a perfect David versus Goliath story with the little speedster Ichiro slapping balls left and right around defenders. A classic style hitter stuck in the modern era home run fest.
Not only that, but he has helped globalize baseball. Coming over from Japan where he finished with 1,278 hits, he spread his Japanese culture to America. In return, he also helped continue the spread of baseball to Japan.
Many new faces from Japan have followed in his footsteps, such as the most recent of them all, Shohei Otani.
Ultimately, Ichiro has become the all-time professional baseball hit king with 4,358 hits in total, smacking 3,080 hits in the MLB. Even more so than that, he has been a legend in the game of baseball sharing his passion for the game not only for his great talent, but being a true professional.
Next: Yadier Molina says he’ll retire after the 2020 season
Reports are that Ichiro Suzuki is lower on the list of players in the free agent market. Maybe an offer will come sooner rather than later, but for now, we will have to wait and see if 2017 was his final season in the MLB.