The Baseball Thread

Out of curiosity, how good is he compared to other #3 starters?

Ichiro Suzuki apparently wanted the New York Yankees even more than the Yankees wanted him.

Before completing a trade to acquire the Japanese star, the Yankees spelled out a list of conditions
to Ichiro, a former American League MVP and two-time batting champion.

Ichiro would be asked to switch positions, hit at the bottom of the lineup and possibly
sit against left-handed pitching.

"He was fully educated on all our requirements," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told
ESPNNewYork.com. "One by one, every box got ticked off."

Ichiro had requested a trade from the last-place Seattle Mariners, the only big league team he had
ever played for after coming to the U.S. from Japan as a 27-year-old in 2001. But the Yankees were
not sure the 10-time All-Star would be willing to make all the adjustments they required.

After Ichiro agreed to the conditions -- and waived his no-trade clause -- Cashman and Mariners GM
Jack Zduriencik completed the deal that was initiated in a phone call between Mariners president
Chuck Armstrong and Randy Levine, his counterpart with the Yankees.

"(Ichiro) was asked to make a lot of sacrifices," Cashman said. "And he agreed to all of them."

A team source acknowledged that if the player's name wasn't Ichiro, the Yankees probably wouldn't
have had any interest in the outfielder, who is batting a career-low .261 this season.

But the consensus among Yankees scouts was that Ichiro was "bored" playing for the last-place Mariners
and was "playing down to his surroundings." The Yankees hope this situation will reverse itself with the
38-year-old Ichiro suddenly shifted to a first-place team with a legitimate hope of reaching the World Series.