The fascinating offseason of the Miami Marlins continues, as they've reportedly signed Ichiro to a one-year deal that's worth about $2 million. He's a shell of his former self and will be a fourth outfielder in Miami, but Ichiro is still a recognizable name whose skill with a bat can't be denied.
For the Marlins, Ichiro, 41, is a veteran that can help an otherwise young outfield, which includes megastar Giancarlo Stanton plus Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna. Ichiro hit .284/.324/.340 last season in 143 games with the Yankees.
He's one of a bevy of moves for the Marlins this offseason, which could very well propel them toward the playoffs in 2015. The Washington Nationals are the team to beat in the NL East, but it's not out of the question for the Marlins to finish second. They've added Mat Latos, Martin Prado, Dee Gordon and Michael Morse already, and could be a destination for free-agent James Shields.
It'll be fun to watch how many hits Ichiro can pile up in Miami. He's approaching the magic number of 3,000 for his MLB career. Ichiro's hit count sits at 2,844. (He's already eclipsed 4,000 for his combined career in the U.S. and Japan. He had 1,278 in Japan).
Ichiro won't get to 3,000 this season in a part-time role, and probably wouldn't even if he had a full-time role. He'll need another season. The last time he topped 156 hits in a season was 2012, when he had 178 for the Yankees and Mariners. In 2013, his total was 136 and last year it was 102.
If nothing else, we can at least hope we can get some funny moments of Ichiro speaking Spanish in Miami.
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