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
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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- twice the power hitter El dopey? Hamilton 162 game average for HR & RBI is 35 & 122, Howards is 44& 146. Ryan hit over 45 hrs 4 times, Hamilton NEVER. Even Ryans last 2 down years are in line with Hamiltons. Now don't you feel like a bigger moronic tool than usual?
— DogBiscuitthedope - No one who saw Ben Rivera play outfield thinks he will blossom. We rolled the dice on that one, hope it works out.— MichaelZoe
- Look, I'm all in for Hamilton but don't blame Amaro for being gun-shy on yet another long-term deal. The market could collapse pretty quickly on the rest, as Bourn is learning.
Maybe this means Amaro spends more on a good fourth starter (KK is a No. 5) and/or a more proven setup man as a result. Then, we sign a Scott Hairston type for 1 year.— eman 
Michael Young is not a high OBP guy? Um, he has a career .347 OBP and is only one year removed from a .380 OBP in 2011. Batted 2nd for most of his career, a key spot for advancing runners. Most of his career was for mediocre-to-bad TX teams who really only began competing for titles in the last few years. Plus, he's durable. Aside from his rookie year, he's played in 155 games each season except one, which was 135 GP when he pulled a hamstring in mid-Sept 2009. I think people are going to like Michael Young, the guy is a gamer, a pure ballplayer.- The Phillies have Michael Young in 2013 at age 36. All he did last year was hit grounders. Unless he was injured that means he is too old and won't improve. — jtj06
- But the real story is how Texas bounced him around and eventually made him a DH for the most part. Not all players are DH's. He DH's for 72 games, 1B for 41 games, 3B for 25, and spotted 2B for 16 and even SS for 4. Guy can't get in a groove if he's not a true DH. With the Phils, he returns to a permanent home at 3B.
- Rube-the-Boob should go get Trumbo from Angels. Problem is that we don't have the pitcher(s) they would want.— Copper34
- you improve your team by getting elite players, not by trading prospects for a singles hitting center-fielder and an over-the-hill former 3rd baseman and filling the rest of your roster with bargain basement trash— warbiscuit
- In Revere and Young, the Phillies have acquired 2 of the 7 worst power hitters in all of baseball last season. I hope Young adds leadership - something they really need (as J-Stroll, the declining Howard, and stare-into-space Utley have not gotten it done). They have missed Burrell and Werth in that department. Rube-the-Boob needs to go, maybe even before Manuel's contract is finally up ... — Copper34
- Do you know anything about baseball? — DogBiscuitthedope
- The sports news just keeps getting worse and worse in Philly.— schnitzelboy
- the only quality free agent Rube has EVER signed is Lee --and that was to try to rectify his egregious mistake in giving him away for peanuts in the first place, and was instigated by Lee's wife, not by Rube ... instead of getting elite players, Clueless Rube wasted money on over-the-hill declining and/or bad players (Howard, Ibanez, Moyer, Polanco, Contreras, Blanton, Baez, etc), then traded top prospects in mid-season for overrated quick fixes becuase he failed to do his job in off-season (Oswalt, Pence) and then tries to save money by getting usless trash (most of everyone else who Cluless Rube gets) ...that's how he turned a once championship level team into mediocre trash with no present or future— warbiscuit
- @chrisc....exactly....he is a baller...he was the Rangers' Utley but with better knees and hips. If he has anything left in him like he had in 2011, this is a very good trade.
I can't believe people are up in arms about not giving another $125 mil contract out! How many of those does one team need? Seems kind of ludicrous. Obviously, the Rangers had the money to do this deal and they chose not to.....that tells you lot about the player and the situation right there.....— Mark1npt - ...who care how much they offered anyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It make NO difference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— MooseBreathMints
- What's wrong with Juston Upton?30 hr 80-90 rbi's.What more can anyone want?I know he's TOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOUNG.— tobyjoe
