A Long Way to Travel

Ichiro had a really far way to travel last night when he heard he was traded to New York. He had to make a very long trip to the other dugout. Ichiro was acquired by the Yankees in exchange for the two minor league pitchers DJ Mitchell and Danny Farquhar. Ichiro will bring an aspect that the Yankees haven't had this year; speed. The injury to Brett Gardner has left the bases basically motionless. Ichiro is batting just .261/.288/.352 this season, but his defense is a definite upgrade over Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones.

Detroit and Miami completed a trade yesterday as well. Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez are going to Detroit in exchange for Jacob Turner, Rob Brantly, and Brian Flynn. Infante will make a big difference for the Tigers, because their production from second base has been terrible this season. Infrante is hitting .287/.312/.442 this season. Sanchez will make the pitching rotation more stable after Verlander. Sanchez has a 3.94 ERA with 5 wins, but that is result of the Marlins offense.

A trade for Dempster was leaked yesterday before it was official. The rumors say that Dempster will go to Atlanta for young pitcher Randall Delgado. Dempster tweeted that he had not yet been traded, but it is very likely. Dempster will be huge addition to the Braves and keep them in competition with the Nationals.

Ichiro

Ichiro is one of baseball's hitting machines he recorded over 200 hits in his first 10 major league seasons. In 2011 baseball fans were shocked by Ichiro's sudden decline. his batting average dropped from his career average of .326 to .272. It was the first time the all-star hit below .300.

It turns out Ichiro hasn't lost any of talent, he just isn't lucky. In 2004 Ichiro had a batting average of .372 with a walk rate of 6.4%, a strikeout rate of 8.3% and a ground ball rate if 63.7%. His BABIP was .399 for that season. In 2011 Ichiro had a .272 batting average, he had a 5.4% walk rate, a 9.6% strikeout rate, and a 59.9% ground ball rate. His BABIP for 2011 was .295.

The difference between his best and worst seasons is only a 1.0% walk rate, a 1.3% strikeout rate, and 3.8% ground ball rate. He is doing the same thing he was doing in 2004. The only major difference is BABIP a .104 difference from 2004 and 2011. BABIP stands for batting average on balls in play. Ichiro simply was not getting lucky with his hits. Perhaps the defensive abilities of infielders have increased since 2004 or maybe Ichiro has become slightly slower with time and can't beat out infield singles.

In 2012 Ichiro has the same chance he always does to be amazing,  he just wasn't lucky in 2011. In 2004 he was extremely lucky. Baseball is one of those games where anything can happen so don't count him out yet.

The Seattle Mariners

In 2011 The Mariners finished the season at 67-95 and of course they want to change that. We all know about the big trade between the Yankees and Mariners this off season. The addition of a powerful bat will be nice to have in  a young line up.

Shipping Pineda off to New York in return for Jesus Montero was probably one of the most even trades of the off season. The Mariners needed a powerful bat, and The Yankees needed a good young pitcher. In 18 games and 69 plate appearances the much talked about Montero hit 4 home runs, drove in 18 RBI's and had a .406 on base percentage. Over 28 games Pineda pitched 171 innings, striking out 173 with a WHIP of 1.099 and an ERA of 3.74. Pineda is 23 years old and Montero is 22 years old.

The Mariners still have one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, Felix Hernandez. The 2010 Cy Young award winner hit a tiny bump in the road for the 2011 season elevating his ERA from 2.27 to 3.47. He still won 14 games and pitched 233 innings so there is nothing to worry about. Felix will go back to his regular self in 2012.

Another thing The Mariners will need to do to be successful in 2012 is make sure Ichiro is hitting like Ichiro. Ichiro has been on the decline since 2009 which is normal for a player in his late 30's. In 2009 Ichiro had a .386 on base percentage, In 2010 a .359 on base percentage, and in 2011 a .310 on base percentage. In 2011 Ichiro wasn't even getting on base one third of the time, which is unacceptable for a player of his caliber or a lead off hitter. If The Mariners want to do good, they need Ichiro to hit like the Ichiro of past.

With The Mariners half in a rebuilding stage and half in a playoff push stage its tough to say how they will do. Being in the new and improved AL West, they will not make the playoffs. With young players like Jesus Montero, Felix Hernandez, Justin Smoak, Dustin Ackley and many prospects in their farm system The Mariners can make a definite play off appearance in years to come.