Marlins sign Ichiro to one year deal

The Miami Marlins signed Ichiro Suzuki to a one-year deal worth around $2 million. Buster Olney expects that no kind of option will be added.

Ichiro, 41 years old, will be the Marlins’ fourth outfielder. In that role he will probably not reach 3,000 hits this season, since the Marlins outfield is containing three young players. Ichiro needs 156 hit to achieve that goal.

In 2014, Ichiro hit a respectable .284 with a on-base-percentage of .324 and a slugging percentage of .340. In 18 attempts he stole 15 bases, so when it comes to that he is still efficient. So far Ichiro is the only MLB player who has hit at least 200 hits in ten consecutive seasons.

There are no signals that 2015 will be Ichiro’s last season, so if he doesn’t collect 156 hits this season, he may have another shot in 2016. No doubt that he will end the season as a free agent again.

I don’t hope that his career will end like Carlton Fisk’s career ended. After he had broken Bob Boone’s record of games caught by a catcher, he was released by the White Sox. In my opinion they used him to lure more fans to the stadium and after he broke that record, he wasn’t useful for them anymore.