Ichiro to sign for 20MIL a year!?

[Jyeatbvg69]

SEATTLE -- Although all indications point to center fielder Ichiro Suzuki signing a huge contract in the near future, no one would be happier about that than Mariners manager John McLaren.

Multiple media outlets in Seattle, including the Seattle Times and Post-Intelligencer, have reported the Mariners' All-Star outfielder is close to signing a long-term contract possibly worth $100 million over five years.

The deal would be a good move in McLaren's eyes, if for nothing else, sentimental reasons.

"I love seeing guys play their whole career for the same organization," McLaren said. "It doesn't happen these days because of contracts and whatever reasons, and I'm hoping for the best."

Ichiro, who was chosen as this year's All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, received a standing ovation from Mariners fans prior to Thursday's series opener against the Tigers. He went 3-for-3 and hit the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history on Tuesday in San Francisco.

Fans, too, can relate to having a career Mariner, as designated hitter Edgar Martinez spent his entire Major League career in Seattle. Neither McLaren nor the fans want to imagine life without No. 51.

"He's the face of the franchise, and I can't imagine the Seattle Mariners taking the field and him not being out there," McLaren said. "Hopefully things are moving along, and we'll get something done. ... It will be great to see him out there for a long time, retire a Seattle Mariner, in the Hall of Fame with 3,000 hits and the whole nine yards."

that is way too much for an athlete, especially in baseball where you can't be as dominant as a basketball star or hockey goalie.

[skyblue12]

not sure if anybody heard the clip but the GM of the florida marlins expressed his disbelief over this contract.

imo $100M over 5 years isn't the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard, but considering he hasn't brought the mariners to any sort of world series or anything, i don't think this money is being well spent. ichiro is a tremendous player with lots of speed and skill, but if he's not going to bring you a world series i don't care if he hits 50HRs over the season and steals 100 bases, i'd rather spend the money getting players who can get me to the post-season and ultimately to the world series. though i don't know what is going to happen in the next 5 seasons, from what ichiro has shown so far he has a lot of talent and he is a great player, but alone i don't think he can carry this entire team to the world series.

a-rod was payed $252M over 10 years, avg-ing to $25.2M per season, and although the NYY have not been able to win the world series either, a-rod has made some pretty "nice" (for a lack of a better word) offensive contributions. ichiro has been never hit below .300 for a season, and he has the potential to steal 50+ bags over the course of a season, but he has offensive numbers nowhere NEAR a-rod's. although i'm not saying a-rod's money was well spent, the difference is that 1) a-rod at least has more offensive numbers to show for his contract and 2) NYY has such a big payroll that they can afford to basically sign anybody to a ridiculous contract at times, and seattle does not have that luxury (at least i don't believe they can, i'm not exactly sure about their payroll each season).

[kevin01]

You have to look at it from Seattle's perspective. In the last decade, they have lost both Griffey and A-Rod because of money. They did not pay them and they left. Ichiro is a superstar in this league, no matter what you say. If he was in the MLB for those 6 years he played in Japan, Ichiro would have been a 4000 hitter over his career. He wont be now, but would have been. This contract is worth it for the Mariners, if Ichiro had left too then they would really have lost a lot of fan support.

[rdtx2002]

Ichiro is better defensively (GG ever since his rookie year). Though I agree with most of what you said about ARod.. hard to argue with a Japanese player that hits almost .333 every year with 50+ stolen bases.

[kevin01]

not sure if anybody heard the clip but the GM of the florida marlins expressed his disbelief over this contract.

imo $100M over 5 years isn't the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard, but considering he hasn't brought the mariners to any sort of world series or anything, i don't think this money is being well spent. ichiro is a tremendous player with lots of speed and skill, but if he's not going to bring you a world series i don't care if he hits 50HRs over the season and steals 100 bases, i'd rather spend the money getting players who can get me to the post-season and ultimately to the world series. though i don't know what is going to happen in the next 5 seasons, from what ichiro has shown so far he has a lot of talent and he is a great player, but alone i don't think he can carry this entire team to the world series.

a-rod was payed $252M over 10 years, avg-ing to $25.2M per season, and although the NYY have not been able to win the world series either, a-rod has made some pretty "nice" (for a lack of a better word) offensive contributions. ichiro has been never hit below .300 for a season, and he has the potential to steal 50+ bags over the course of a season, but he has offensive numbers nowhere NEAR a-rod's. although i'm not saying a-rod's money was well spent, the difference is that 1) a-rod at least has more offensive numbers to show for his contract and 2) NYY has such a big payroll that they can afford to basically sign anybody to a ridiculous contract at times, and seattle does not have that luxury (at least i don't believe they can, i'm not exactly sure about their payroll each season).

Ichiro gets 230-260 hits a year. He is a totally different player and brings a whole different dimension to the game. You dont need home runs from every player. You say you dont care if he hits 50HR next season, but then acknowledge A-Rod's stats and use them for the argument. Seattle has been a poor team for the last couple of years but were developing players. Now this season they will most likely make the playoffs unless they collapse in the second half. In baseball, one player cannot get you to the world series. One player can not bat 9 times a row. A pitcher can maybe, but not a hitter, unless the hitter hits 100 home runs and gets 250 rbis. Ichiro is more important to Seattle than A-Rod is to the yanks.

[skyblue12]

i think one of the most important factors i didn't mention was what kevin01 mentioned, and that's basically "ichiro being the face of the mariner's franchise"

the mariner's don't have many, if at all any other stars other than ichiro, at least at an all-star caliber level. the way the mariners have been playing lately i don't think they can really afford to lose a player like ichiro, because they really don't have anybody else on the team that can produce like he has produced for the team.

[carmaster]

MLB and NBA players are overpaid.

[Spliffy]

Another HUGE draw for Seattle is Ichiro's japanese presence. Seattle gets alot of japanese tourists coming to see him and I think they even show some games in Japan. Even some of the banners in the field are in japanese.

He may not get the offensive numbers, but he does bring in $$$ so it's a good return on investment.

[DuDe1411]

MLB and NBA players are overpaid.

NBA players runs more and has to be more physical than MLB player.

NBA teams has less player. MLB players eat and spit 2/3 of the game.

afterall, blame the rich teams for making crappy teams even crappier
...

so. to conclude. NBA players arent overpaid.. some are, but most of them deserve it

[Jyeatbvg69]

NBA players runs more and has to be more physical than MLB player.

NBA teams has less player. MLB players eat and spit 2/3 of the game.

afterall, blame the rich teams for making crappy teams even crappier
...

so. to conclude. NBA players arent overpaid.. some are, but most of them deserve it

wrong. id give 3 million to a cop, doctor, firefighter, etc. anyday. darn, if i could run around and throw a ball in a hoop 82 times a season for 3 mil, id certainly do that.

[Spliffy]

darn, if i could run around and throw a ball in a hoop 82 times a season for 3 mil, id certainly do that.

You can't, and that's why you're not getting paid

[wesleyw]

Another HUGE draw for Seattle is Ichiro's japanese presence. Seattle gets alot of japanese tourists coming to see him and I think they even show some games in Japan. Even some of the banners in the field are in japanese.

You beat me to it...

[nfnx]

well how much is the highest player being paid in the mlb?\
wheres arod in all this?

[wesleyw]

well how much is the highest player being paid in the mlb?\

A'Rod, 10 year/$252 million

well how much is the highest player being paid in the mlb?\
wheres arod in all this?

Here

a-rod was payed $252M over 10 years, avg-ing to $25.2M per season, and although the NYY have not been able to win the world series either, a-rod has made some pretty "nice" (for a lack of a better word) offensive contributions. ichiro has been never hit below .300 for a season, and he has the potential to steal 50+ bags over the course of a season, but he has offensive numbers nowhere NEAR a-rod's. although i'm not saying a-rod's money was well spent, the difference is that 1) a-rod at least has more offensive numbers to show for his contract and 2) NYY has such a big payroll that they can afford to basically sign anybody to a ridiculous contract at times, and seattle does not have that luxury (at least i don't believe they can, i'm not exactly sure about their payroll each season).

And here just from this thread.

Ichiro gets 230-260 hits a year. He is a totally different player and brings a whole different dimension to the game. You dont need home runs from every player. You say you dont care if he hits 50HR next season, but then acknowledge A-Rod's stats and use them for the argument. Seattle has been a poor team for the last couple of years but were developing players. Now this season they will most likely make the playoffs unless they collapse in the second half. In baseball, one player cannot get you to the world series. One player can not bat 9 times a row. A pitcher can maybe, but not a hitter, unless the hitter hits 100 home runs and gets 250 rbis. Ichiro is more important to Seattle than A-Rod is to the yanks.

[skyblue12]

A'Rod, 10 year/$252 million



Here



And here just from this thread.

apparently he didn't read the previous posts..