End of an era – Ichiro leaves Seattle |

Everyone has heard the news now of Seattle trading Ichiro to the Yankees. On one level, just a seller/buyer trade and one that probably wouldn’t have been made but for an injury on the buying team. But, perhaps more significantly, an icon moving from his only team late in his career and not voluntarily, leaving his fans a little perplexed and bewildered but, in this circumstance, also happy for the player who now has a good shot at finally winning a championship.

Some comparative stats:
79 – Number of players to play first 12 seasons with one franchise and accumulate 1500 or more hits
35 – Number of those who subsequently played for another franchise
23 – Number of those who became HOFers (66%)
26 – Number of the others (those who remained with one franchise) who became HOFers (59%)

Of those 36 players (the 35 who did not remain with their original franchise plus Ichiro), Ichiro appears to be the first since Willie Mays in 1972 to move from his original team via an in-season trade (like Ichiro, Mays did not return much value, yielding only Charlie Williams, a young, 2nd year pitcher, then with a career 71 ERA+).

Here are the career stats for those players. Ichiro’s obviously in good company.

Rk	Player	H	Team Count	OPS+	G	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Tm
1	Pete Rose	4256	3	118	3562	2165	746	135	160	1314	1566	1143	.303	.375	.409	.784	CIN-PHI-MON
2	Ty Cobb	4189	2	168	3034	2246	724	295	117	1938	1249	680	.366	.433	.512	.945	DET-PHA
3	Hank Aaron	3771	2	155	3298	2174	624	98	755	2297	1402	1383	.305	.374	.555	.928	MLN-ATL-MIL
4	Paul Molitor	3319	3	122	2683	1782	605	114	234	1307	1094	1244	.306	.369	.448	.817	MIL-TOR-MIN
5	Willie Mays	3283	2	156	2992	2062	523	140	660	1903	1464	1526	.302	.384	.557	.941	NYG-SFG-NYM
6	Eddie Murray	3255	5	129	3026	1627	560	35	504	1917	1333	1516	.287	.359	.476	.836	BAL-LAD-NYM-CLE-ANA
7	Paul Waner	3152	4	134	2550	1627	605	191	113	1309	1091	376	.333	.404	.473	.878	PIT-BRO-BSN-NYY
8	Rod Carew	3053	2	131	2469	1424	445	112	92	1015	1018	1028	.328	.393	.429	.822	MIN-CAL
9	Sam Rice	2987	2	112	2404	1514	498	184	34	1078	708	275	.322	.374	.427	.801	WSH-CLE
10	Rogers Hornsby	2930	5	175	2259	1579	541	169	301	1584	1038	679	.358	.434	.577	1.010	STL-NYG-BSN-CHC-SLB
11	Zack Wheat	2884	2	129	2410	1289	476	172	132	1248	650	572	.317	.367	.450	.817	BRO-PHA
12	Ivan Rodriguez	2844	6	106	2543	1354	572	51	311	1332	513	1474	.296	.334	.464	.798	TEX-FLA-DET-NYY-HOU-WSN
13	George Sisler	2812	3	125	2055	1284	425	164	102	1175	472	327	.340	.379	.468	.847	SLB-WSH-BSN
14	Tony Perez	2732	4	122	2777	1272	505	79	379	1652	925	1867	.279	.341	.463	.804	CIN-MON-BOS-PHI
15	Billy Williams	2711	2	133	2488	1410	434	88	426	1475	1045	1046	.290	.361	.492	.853	CHC-OAK
16	Harry Heilmann	2660	2	148	2147	1291	542	151	183	1539	856	550	.342	.410	.520	.930	DET-CIN
17	Richie Ashburn	2574	3	111	2189	1322	317	109	29	586	1198	571	.308	.396	.382	.778	PHI-CHC-NYM
18	Willie Davis	2561	6	106	2429	1217	395	138	182	1053	418	977	.279	.311	.412	.723	LAD-MON-TEX-STL-SDP-CAL
19	Ichiro Suzuki	2533	2	113	1844	1176	295	79	99	633	513	792	.322	.366	.418	.784	SEA-NYY
20	Garret Anderson	2529	3	102	2228	1084	522	36	287	1365	429	1224	.293	.324	.461	.785	CAL-ANA-LAA-ATL-LAD
21	Frank Thomas	2468	3	156	2322	1494	495	12	521	1704	1667	1397	.301	.419	.555	.974	CHW-OAK-TOR
22	Harry Hooper	2466	2	114	2309	1429	389	160	75	817	1136	584	.281	.368	.387	.755	BOS-CHW
23	Lloyd Waner	2459	5	99	1993	1201	281	118	27	598	420	173	.316	.353	.393	.747	PIT-BSN-CIN-PHI-BRO
24	Mark Grace	2445	2	119	2245	1179	511	45	173	1146	1075	642	.303	.383	.442	.825	CHC-ARI
25	Enos Slaughter	2383	4	124	2380	1247	413	148	169	1304	1018	538	.300	.382	.453	.834	STL-KCA-NYY-MLN
26	Eddie Mathews	2315	3	143	2391	1509	354	72	512	1453	1444	1487	.271	.376	.509	.885	BSN-MLN-ATL-HOU-DET
27	Ron Santo	2254	2	125	2243	1138	365	67	342	1331	1108	1343	.277	.362	.464	.826	CHC-CHW
28	Bert Campaneris	2249	4	89	2328	1181	313	86	79	646	618	1142	.259	.311	.342	.653	KCA-OAK-TEX-CAL-NYY
29	Larry Bowa	2191	3	71	2247	987	262	99	15	525	474	569	.260	.300	.320	.620	PHI-CHC-NYM
30	Duke Snider	2116	3	140	2143	1259	358	85	407	1333	971	1237	.295	.380	.540	.919	BRO-LAD-NYM-SFG
31	Cesar Cedeno	2087	4	123	2006	1084	436	60	199	976	664	938	.285	.347	.443	.790	HOU-CIN-STL-LAD
32	Bobby Veach	2063	4	127	1822	953	393	147	64	1166	571	370	.310	.370	.442	.812	DET-BOS-WSH-NYY
33	Andruw Jones	1920	5	111	2159	1194	380	36	432	1281	877	1727	.256	.338	.488	.827	ATL-LAD-TEX-CHW-NYY
34	Tony Lazzeri	1840	4	121	1740	986	334	115	178	1191	869	864	.292	.380	.467	.846	NYY-CHC-BRO-NYG
35	Lou Boudreau	1779	2	120	1646	861	385	66	68	789	796	309	.295	.380	.415	.795	CLE-BOS
36	Ken Keltner	1570	2	112	1526	737	308	69	163	852	514	480	.276	.338	.441	.778	CLE-BOS

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/24/2012.

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Andy

12 years ago

Apparently Ichiro approached the team about being traded so that they could get something in return for him and start rebuilding. Too bad they got so little for him AND gave up cash in the deal. He’s just not worth very much any more.

Reply to Andy

I agree that he’s not worth much give his age, current production level and free agent status at the end of the year. And yet, why do I believe that being with the Yankees is going to rejuvenate him and he’ll hit .300+ for them???

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Doug

Reply to Ed

Given that lack of value, makes me wonder whether Ichiro will have any takers (maybe the Mariners) on the free agent market after the season. Don’t really see him fitting in with the Yankees for next year.

Reply to Doug

I suppose it depends on what he’s willing to accept re: role and money. He’s hit righties fairly well this year (though not last year) and can still run and play the field decently. I imagine he’d be an upgrade for some team out there as a 4th or 5th outfielder/late inning defensive replacement. Heck, the Indians have had Aaron Cunningham on their roster ALL year….

Vinnie

Don’t forget, this gives him the best opportunity to go out a winner, thereby saving face and leaving on a high note, rather than not having the mariners pick up his contract and humiliating him.
Then, he can say he’s decided to go back and play one more year in Japan as his farewell gift to his people.

Mike L

I’m not sure that Ichiro could do more than a light-hitting decent glove AAA outfielder with some speed, but the Yankees don’t have one of those. What they do have are older parts (Jones and Ibanez) that probably wouldn’t hold up over the last couple of months under heavy use. So, to the extent this trade keeps them from coughing up a King’s ransom for a better outfielder (asking prices are supposedly insanely high) it makes some sense. I really think the Yankees want to get under the luxury tax level in 2014, and they could if they don’t saddle… Read more »

Editor

John Autin

The ovation Ichiro received during his first at-bat, and his stately response, was quite moving. Without any expectation that his performance will improve now that he’s in pinstripes, I still think he’ll help the Yankees, for the reasons Mike L. noted. And beyond what he does on the field, I think the Yanks’ ability to line their bench with incredibly accomplished players is part of the aura that they project, not just to other teams, but to themselves as well. Maybe they have a AAA outfielder who could do just as much as Ichiro can at this point, maybe even… Read more »

Lawrence Azrin

Cobb wasn’t traded by the Tigers to the A’s; he was released by the Detroit Tigers January 27, 1927, as part of the fall-out from the investigation into the Cobb/ Speaker/ Joe Wood 1919 gambling accusations, then signed by the A’s (for a salary of $85,000, which may have been the highest salary in MLB ever at that time).

#2/Ed – even if Ichiro hits .300, with his lack of walks and power, he’d barely be a league-average corner outfielder now.

I gotta admit this trade took me totally by surprise.

Tmckelv

Ichiro is with the Yanks to replace what they would get from Brett Gardener. He probably will provide a little less OBP with more SLG. He steals less bases, but I think if the Yankees want him to run more, he could. He looked very happy after the game last night. I think it is a tremendous pick-up for the Yanks. He batted 8th last night, not sure where he will typically be in the line-up (he might end up batting 9th). I don’t think they would experiment with him lead-off, but he might be the only guy where Jeter… Read more »

MatthewC

By the end of the season Ichiro will be playing every day, hitting in the mid .300 range, and batting leadoff. Jeter will be batting second, with patience and more power. This move is going to work very well for the Yankees.

MikeD

Reply to MatthewC

With A-Rod now out until September, the Yankees will need to move around pieces in the lineup. I see today they have Ichiro leading off. Be interesting to see how long that lasts. The Yankees have built their teams since the mid-90s on OBP and driving up pitch counts. Even Jeter in his latter years here is still getting on base at .350+ rate. Ichiro had best return to being a .300 hitter if he hopes to stay there.

Richard Chester

Doug:

Is your chart only for players not voluntarily leaving their team?
When I ran PI I got 94, not 80, names. Red Schoendienst got 1853 hits with the Cards in 11+ years and was traded, but is not on your chart.

Reply to Richard Chester

Good catch, Richard. Checked the query again – I actually used 1st through 12th seasons. Ichiro was picked up because the database had not been updated when I ran the query (I manually changed his franchise count and teams).

Anyway, that’s why Schoendienst and others are not picked up.