Exit Jeremy Lin. Enter Ichiro Suzuki To New York City's Sports Market

Ichiro Suzuki (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Although Jeremy Lin is an exciting rising basketball star and Ichiro Suzuki may be a fading baseball one, New York City will once again be the toast of the Asian community as Ichiro, the most recognizable athlete in Japan, put on the pinstripes of the New York Yankees Monday night for the first time. Lin, a Chinese-American, left the New York Knicks for the Houston Rockets last week.
The move by the Yankees appears to be a brilliant one as a stopgap measure to replace left fielder Brett Gardner, lost for the season due to elbow surgery. Ichiro’s game is similar to Gardner’s – a slap hitter with speed who plays great defense.
Ichiro amassed more than 200 hits in his first 10 seasons after coming from Japan, including a major-league record 262 in 2004. Only Pete Rose has also had 10 seasons of 200 or more hits. Ichiro needs only 466 hits to reach the coveted 3,000 total and seems destined to be a Hall of Famer as a lifetime .322 batter with 438 stolen bases and 1,176 runs scored.
But the last 1 ½ years have not been nearly as productive for Ichiro as he’s hitting just .261 this year. With the Mariners in last place in the AL West, Ichiro had his agent, Tony Attanasio, ask Seattle management to trade him to a contender during the All-Star break.
The result was a bargain-basement deal for the Yanks, who only had to give up two marginal minor league pitching prospects in exchange for a 10-time All-Star and $14.75 million as the Yanks will only pay $2.25 million of the $17 million left on his five-year, $90 million deal that expires at the end of the season, according to the YES Network.
Ichiro, batting an unaccustomed eighth, delivered a clean single up the middle and stole a base in his first at-bat Monday, going 1-for-4, but, if he can get back to his .300 hitting ways, the Yanks have a steal. Especially if he can help them get back to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
The possibility that Ichiro would be re-signed by the Yankees for 2013 would seem remote considering their high payroll and Gardner’s expected return to health. But one never knows with the Yankees.