Could Ichiro Be The Platoon Answer For Seattle?

The Seattle Mariners have made their big splash this ofseason. They acquired Nelson Cruz to bat cleanup and be the seemingly full-time designated hitter.

For those that thought the Mariners were going to make another splash in the free agent or trade market after trading away Michael Saunders (signing anyone from Melky Cabrera, Alex Rios or perhaps trading for a bat like Matt Kemp or Justin Upton) those thoughts were put to bed after the club acquired Justin Ruggiano from the Cubs to platoon in right field.

So now, the Mariners are searching for a left-handed platoon partner for Ruggiano. A familiar name is out there and available, should there be any interest.

Ichiro Suzuki has stated that he wants to play at least one more season and could be a solid contributor, especially in limited action.

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The 41-year old batted .282 in 143 games last season and is 156 hits away from 3,000 in his Major League career. More importantly for Seattle, he would come relatively cheap and would also be one of those “crowd pleaser” moves as many fans have taken to Twitter calling for his return.

The downside is that Ichiro is actually a better hitter against left-handed pitchers than right-handed pitchers. So he wouldn’t make a great platoon partner. But, he still batted over .270 against righties last year, so it is still an improvement.

Or is it?

Another downside to a Mariners/Ichiro reunion is his age. While he has never really had a history of landing on the DL, at the age of 41, do you really run the risk?

We speculated earlier this offseason that he may want to return to Seattle after he was spotted having lunch in the Seattle area, talking about baseball and his future.

Whether or not there is mutual interest, or even if Ichiro is actually interested in a return, remains to be seen.

What do you think Mariners fans? Is a one or two year deal for Ichiro worth it in a platoon role? Would you rather just use James Jones and go sign a free agent next year?