The reactions to Ichiro Suzuki’s homecoming have been pretty emotionally charged. Like we saw when Ken Griffey Jr. returned to the Mariners in 2009, the return of this franchise icon has stirred up some passionate responses. They’ve run the gamut from deeply thankful to viscerally opposed. One of the most common critiques has been that there are other, better free agents options the Mariners could have signed instead of Ichiro. Setting aside the obvious off-field benefits to bringing Ichiro back, I wanted to take a look at the available free agents to see if there was a better on-field option.
Were There Any Alternatives to Ichiro?
