The M's next signing?Let's play a game. What player has...
a) Insulted a rival city to the point of saying that if he ever said he wanted to go there, he would punch himself in the face.
b) Pissed off his teammates to the point that they wanted to "knock him out"
c) Once declared it was nice to finally win for once after playing in a series of exhibitions, putting down the team that actually employees him.
d) Thinks himself to be a fashionista of the highest degree when he actually dresses like an absolute clown
THE ANSWER:
SIKE! It's this guy:
Now, let's get this straight. Ichiro the Player is the man. First ballot Hall of Famer. Set all sorts of records. Love him.
Ichiro the Teammate is a jerk. Seriously, if he did all the stuff he did and was either WHITE or BLACK, he would be the Sean Avery or the Terrell Owens of baseball. However, he gets a free pass because he "doesn't speak English."
Whoops. He totally does. It's not like every All-Star game he goes a profanity laced tirade for the entire American League locker room. It's not like he's been hiding behind an interpreter for close to ten years. The guy can speak English. It's naive and almost insulting to his intelligence to assume that he can't at this point.
So let's not make the title of this post, "Ichiro" but rather "Trade Ichiro." If the Mariners are in full rebuilding mode, then why keep this guy around? So he can be a bad influence on young players coming up? So he can further fraction the clubhouse? We aren't going to win anything anytime soon. It's time to blow things up completely a la the Florida Marlins in 1997 and amass as many prospects as possible.
Ichiro's trade value will never be higher than it is now. Let's pull together a Randy Johnson to the Astros type trade. Get the next Freddy Garcia, John Halama, Carlos Guillen. Make it happen, Captain Jay-Z of the sinking ship, U.S.S. Mariner (BLOG SHOUT-OUTTTTT). I'd rather go 60-102 with exciting young players than 75-87 with Ichrio. Both are wastes of seasons but at least one gives hope for the future.
Of course, Ichiro will never be traded, considering the ownership and all the Japanese tourists that make the pilgrimage every year to the right field of Safeco. Oh well. I do love me some Ichirolls. Yum Yum Yum.
a) Insulted a rival city to the point of saying that if he ever said he wanted to go there, he would punch himself in the face.
b) Pissed off his teammates to the point that they wanted to "knock him out"
c) Once declared it was nice to finally win for once after playing in a series of exhibitions, putting down the team that actually employees him.
d) Thinks himself to be a fashionista of the highest degree when he actually dresses like an absolute clown
THE ANSWER:
SIKE! It's this guy:
Now, let's get this straight. Ichiro the Player is the man. First ballot Hall of Famer. Set all sorts of records. Love him.Ichiro the Teammate is a jerk. Seriously, if he did all the stuff he did and was either WHITE or BLACK, he would be the Sean Avery or the Terrell Owens of baseball. However, he gets a free pass because he "doesn't speak English."
Whoops. He totally does. It's not like every All-Star game he goes a profanity laced tirade for the entire American League locker room. It's not like he's been hiding behind an interpreter for close to ten years. The guy can speak English. It's naive and almost insulting to his intelligence to assume that he can't at this point.
So let's not make the title of this post, "Ichiro" but rather "Trade Ichiro." If the Mariners are in full rebuilding mode, then why keep this guy around? So he can be a bad influence on young players coming up? So he can further fraction the clubhouse? We aren't going to win anything anytime soon. It's time to blow things up completely a la the Florida Marlins in 1997 and amass as many prospects as possible.
Ichiro's trade value will never be higher than it is now. Let's pull together a Randy Johnson to the Astros type trade. Get the next Freddy Garcia, John Halama, Carlos Guillen. Make it happen, Captain Jay-Z of the sinking ship, U.S.S. Mariner (BLOG SHOUT-OUTTTTT). I'd rather go 60-102 with exciting young players than 75-87 with Ichrio. Both are wastes of seasons but at least one gives hope for the future.
Of course, Ichiro will never be traded, considering the ownership and all the Japanese tourists that make the pilgrimage every year to the right field of Safeco. Oh well. I do love me some Ichirolls. Yum Yum Yum.
