SODO MOJO
FanSided

5 Reasons the Mariners Will Be Watching the Playoffs from Home… Again

By Colby Patnode

ANAHEIM, CA - JULY 10: Jean Segura #2 of the Seattle Mariners reacts to fouling out during the fifth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on July 10, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - JULY 10: Jean Segura #2 of the Seattle Mariners reacts to fouling out during the fifth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on July 10, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next

4. Ichiro Becomes a Mariners OF… Again

SEATTLE, WA – MARCH 29: Ichiro Suzuki #51 of the Seattle Mariners waits for a pitch from starting pitcher Corey Kluber #28 of the Cleveland Indians during the third inning of a game at Safeco Field on March 29, 2018, in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images).
SEATTLE, WA – MARCH 29: Ichiro Suzuki #51 of the Seattle Mariners waits for a pitch from starting pitcher Corey Kluber #28 of the Cleveland Indians during the third inning of a game at Safeco Field on March 29, 2018, in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images). /

Yes, I have been hyper-critical of this decision since before it was even made. And yes, this still bugs me. If you don’t remember the circumstances for Ichiro becoming a Seattle Mariner again, let’s take a look back.

Ben Gamel hurt his back on March 1st and was going to miss all of Spring Training and part of April. The Mariners didn’t have the MLB ready depth they needed to absorb the loss, so they hit the free agent market to find it. They landed on signing Ichiro, despite the franchise icon being 44-years-old coming off a bad season in Miami.

Ichiro appeared in just 15 games with the Mariners and was unsurprisingly awful. He slashed just .205/.255/.205 on his way to being worth -0.5 wins. Let me repeat that again. Ichiro cost the Mariners half of a win in only 15 GAMES PLAYED.

So why is this decision on the list? Well, besides the obvious reason that Ichiro isn’t good, they passed on Carlos Gonzalez who signed a few days later with the Rockies. For comparison’s sake, Gonzalez is slashing .281/.335/.472 in 118 games and is worth 0.7 bWAR.

In addition to the terrible performance Ichiro gave you, Mariners also sent down Guillermo Heredia when Gamel was ready instead of taking the obvious step of DFA’ing Ichiro. At the time they sent down Heredia he was slashing .310/.417/.552. So I guess you could say they got worse that day.

My rationale on this has remained the same: the Ichiro signing was never about winning. In fact, the Mariners knew it would make them worse and did it anyway. While losing half a game or so may not seem like a big deal, it is indicative of a larger lack of concern with winning in this organization.

Sadly, this charade is not over, as Ichiro will undoubtedly return in 2019 and will be on the Mariners 25 man roster when they open the season in Japan.

Home/Mariners News