The Mariners did not let the unthinkable (losing their franchise player) happen. They locked up Ichiro for 5 years and will pay him $90 million. One thing we all know about Ichiro is that he remains healthy. He has played in 98.5% of the Mariners games since the start of the 2001 season.

Ichiro’s skills are without question. He’s a disciplined hitter who will most likely not lose his swing until after this contract is up. Mariner’s general manager Bill Bavasi said that he wanted Ichiro to head to the Hall of Fame wearing a Mariners cap. I think that bodes well for the Mariners.

I have to say, that as a frequent patron of the centerfield bleachers at Safeco Field, I’m glad that Ichiro will be around to dazzle us until 2012.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Baseball, MLB, Seattle Mariners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.