Report: Phillies offered Ichiro $14 million
Ichiro Suzuki was rejuvenated by a mid-season trade to New York, and he will remain a Yankee with an agreement forthcoming, believed to be for one year. But, according to a report by ESPN.com's Buster Olney, Ichiro may turn down more money and a longer guarantee from the Phillies.
Report: Phillies offered Ichiro $14 million
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Ichiro Suzuki was rejuvenated by a mid-season trade to New York, and he will remain a Yankee with an agreement forthcoming, believed to be for one year. But, according to a report by ESPN.com's Buster Olney, Ichiro may turn down more money and a longer guarantee from the Phillies.
Olney reported the Phillies offered Ichiro a two-year, $14 million contract. The New York Times also reported strong Phillies interest. Charlie Manuel has long been an admirer of Ichiro. He would have probably batted leadoff in the Phillies lineup and played right field.
The offer is surprising for a few reasons, most notably, Ichiro is not the prototypical corner outfielder the Phillies require. He's 39 and posted the lowest on-base percentage of his career (.307) in 2012. He has a career slugging percentage of .419. (Although, in a small sample size, he slugged .454 with the Yankees in 240 plate appearances.) He led all of baseball in hits for five straight seasons from 2006-10.
Pat Gillick, special assistant to Ruben Amaro Jr., has a long-standing relationship with Ichiro and his agent, Tony Attansio, from his Seattle days.
A lineup with Ichiro would have theoretically resembled this:
1. Ichiro 9
2. Michael Young 5
3. Chase Utley 4
4. Ryan Howard 3
5. Carlos Ruiz 2
6. Jimmy Rollins 6
7. Domonic Brown/Darin Ruf 7
8. Ben Revere 8
The reported offer tells us four things:
1. The Phillies are turned off by the demands of the top corner outfielders on the market, Josh Hamilton, Nick Swisher and Cody Ross. This has long been the sentiment of rival executives, who had predicted a splash from Ruben Amaro Jr., only for silence to persist. The Phillies are wary of any commitment longer than three years to a player over 30, and in some cases, that is too long. Hamilton is seeking upward of five years. Swisher could net at least four years. And Ross is reportedly looking for three years.
2. The power must come from Utley and Howard. The Phillies are attempting to augment the middle of their lineup with hitter who put the ball in play. Young and Revere are not high on-base guys. Neither is Ichiro (in recent years). But Young and Ichiro are career .300 hitters and Revere reached .294 as a 24-year-old centerfielder. While there is a veritable lack of power on the corners, they are banking on production from Utley and Howard.
3. Had Ichiro signed, the Phillies would possess approximately $13 million to spend for 2013. With three new acquisitions for the lineup, the remaining funds could have been directed toward pitching upgrades. Amaro has stated he wants a "low-risk, high-reward" fifth starter. He could have aimed higher there and still had money for a veteran setup man.
4. They value the 16th overall pick in June's draft. This is an under-reported element of the winter's happenings. That pick is the highest for the Phillies since 2001. If they sign Hamilton or Swisher, they would forfeit that pick. They would also forfeit the bonus money that is tied to that pick, which drains their overall money pool for signing all drafted players under the new CBA. That pick holds great value considering all of the minor-league talent Amaro has dealt in the last three years.
Whatever the case, Amaro has stressed his need to be "creative" this winter. The reported Ichiro offer certainly falls in that category, for better or worse.
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Reminds me of '83... still trying to 'milk the old cow that took you to the dance' or some Stooge worthy comment like that.— sillybilly- creed is ignorant.— sgamble077
- tells me he didn't want to come to philly...can't imagine why...an aging team in freefall? terrible fairweather fans? second rate city? hmmmmmmmmm— box297
- And, he doesn't have to move to be on an aging team in free fall in a second rate city.
BTW: Boxbrain--MOVE!— BEMiller - Rube's "creativity" brought Phils such players as baez, contreras, schneider, herndon, martinez, tashner, willis, Gload, Nix, Thome, Francisco, Mayberry, Bowker, Qualls, lindblom, etc.. and an 81-81 record with the highest budget in the league... now a mediocre team with 2 good starters and a remaining 40-man roster filled with a whole lot of useless trash— warbiscuit
- The queen of cut and paste is here. Beat it dopey — DogBiscuitthedope
- The Phillies dilemna is that they need a power bat. They are not sure if they have one in Ruf or not.
Should they sign a corner outfielder that would be a projected everyday player, they may never get to know whether Ruf or Brown are real players. They will be alternating depending on whether the opposing pitchers are righties or lefties. Not a good situation a player used to playing everyday.
I would prefer that they stand pat and start Ruf, Revere and Brown everyday. A lot of talk is made of Ruf's potential power - don't underestimate Brown's potential power. Last year, after Pence's departure he showed flashes of that power as well a good patience at the plate. His speed allows him to get a lot of extra base hits when he is positioned properly in the lineup. You would'nt want him batting behind a Howard, Ruiz or Ruf.— candidly - Let's put it in perspective folks......Swisher bats 6th or 7th for the Yankees, and he would be our prize free agent acquisition??? 3 years ago, nobody cared about Swisher looked to be a fringe everyday player. Then he goes to that tiny field in new york, hits a couple homeruns now wants $90M? Get serious, let's not lose sight of the fact that he is not worth half of that just because this is one of the worst FA classes in years. GET HAMILTON— kozykoz26
- So what we are coming to find out is that they don't want to sign an impact corner outfielder because of the 16th pick in the draft? Cmon now!
- Alfonso Soriano for Dom Brown,....and sign Oswalt for 6 mil with about 7 mil of incentives that if attained, will mean he had a good enough year,.....Soriano would protect Ryan Howard in the order and Soriano would kick arsse in this Ballpark— SyddBarrett
- The Phils could have offered Ichiro $50 mil and 4 more years, he wouldn't have taken it and he would have returned to the Yankees. Asians only want to play for the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees based on baseball tradition and the trips these teams took to Japan back in the old days to do exhibition games. Only recently with Japanese ownership of the Mariners have they considered adding Seattle to their preferred destination list. I like Ichiro, but again, how much older do we need to make this team????????— Mark1npt
- It would seem we need to sign Hamilton and I think he may be worth the money if it were only that in play, but folks remember if we're talking about the future , we'd also lose one of the best draft pick position we've had in years. So roll the dice and go for it now, or give away a year and see what shakes out? Me, I wanna win NOW!— juzcuzuasked
- About time somebody mentioned that 16th pick in the 1st round. Phillies cannot continue to lose their highest picks. Period. You don't get the Utleys or Hamelses in the later rounds.— PhillySubsMac
- Exactly. Which leads me to believe the Phils will go after
someone like Cody Ross. Unfortunately, it leaves them without a legit 3 hole hitter.— beegal99 - Play freakin Ruf everyday!!!!!!!
Guarantee you he leads the team in HR's and will hit for a higher average than that25mm clown at 1st!!!— mainstreet
