MARLINS WON’T BRING ICHIRO BACK NEXT SEASON
Ichiro Suzuki’s days as a Marlin are over.
Whether the team’s decision to part company with the 44-year-old outfielder, one of baseball’s all-time greats, also spells the end of his storied major league career remains to be seen.
In what was the fifirst signifificant roster decision for new ownership, the Marlins on Friday declined their $2 million club option to retain Ichiro, who now becomes a free agent.
“It’s been an honor watching you play. Thanks, Ichiro!” the Marlins tweeted Friday.
“See you in Cooperstown,” former Marlins President David Samson tweeted.
While Suzuki has said numerous times that he would like to continue playing until he’s 50, there’s no guarantee he’ll fifind a major league team willing to give him a job.
Suzuki, who is in the twilight of a spectacular career and ranks 22nd on the alltime list with 3,080 hits, saw very little playing time last season in the outfield. He started 22 games last season while setting a big league mark with 109 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter.
Because the Marlins are expected to trade one or more of their three outfielders — Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich — it created the possibility of additional playing time for Suzuki, at least on a part- time basis.
Suzuki and Derek Jeter, the Marlins’ new chief executive offifficer and part owner, have a mutual respect and admi-- ration that goes back to their days together as teammates on the New York Yankees.
But the Marlins are slashing payroll to about $90 million, and the $2 million it would have required to hang on to Suzuki was considered too much.
In all, Suzuki spent three seasons with the Marlins, during which he reached the 3,000-hit milestone.
Suzuki was batting .202 on July 4, but hit .315 the rest of the way to fifinish at .255. He became just the sixth player 43 or older to record at least 50 hits.
A sure-bet Hall of Famer, Suzuki would be eligible for induction into Cooperstown in 2023 if his major league career ends.
Also, the Marlins also announced they had claimed catcher Chad Wallach off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds. Wallach, son of Marlins bench coach Tim Wallach, was traded with Anthony Desclafani to the Reds for pitcher Mat Latos in 2014. He is a former fififth- round draft pick for the Marlins.