Mariners acquire two prospects from New York Yankees in exchange for outfielder Ichiro Suzuki
Star outfielder has 2,533 career hits in MLB and 3,811 hits combined between MLB and Japan.
SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners announced today that they have acquired a pair of minor league prospects from the New York Yankees in exchange for right fielder Ichiro Suzuki. Cash considerations are also included in this trade.
The Mariners have received right-handed pitchers D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar from the Yankees. Mitchell (40-man) and Farquhar (non-40-man) will both report to AAA Tacoma. The Mariners 40-man roster remains full at 40.
Mitchell, 25, has spent most of the season pitching with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, going 6-4 with a 5.04 ERA (48 ER, 85.2 IP) in 15 games, 14 starts. He limited opponents to a .261 (85x326) average, while walking 29 and striking out 72. Mitchell made his Major League debut this season with New York on May 5 vs. Baltimore, allowing 2 hits and striking out 1 in 1.0 scoreless inning. He appeared in 4 games in relief, going 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA (2 ER, 4.2 IP) over two stints with the Yankees, April 29-May 4 and June 30-July 18. Mitchell was originally selected by the Yankees in the 10th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. He was rated the #16 prospect in the New York organization by Baseball America entering this season.
In four minor league season, Mitchell is 44-24 with a 3.56 ERA (213 ER, 538.0 IP) in 94 games, 87 starts. He has limited opponents to a .253 average (511x2019), while walking 200 and striking out 421.
Farquhar, 25, has split the 2012 season between the Toronto, Oakland and New York (AL) organizations. This season he has combined to go 2-3 with 5 saves and a 3.33 ERA (19 ER, 51.1 IP) with 54 strikeouts in 32 games, all in relief. He was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 10th round of the 2008 June Amateur Draft out of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
In five minor league seasons he is a combined 14-17 with 59 saves and a 3.06 ERA (96 ER, 282.2 IP) with 290 strikeouts in 280 relief appearances. He made his Major League debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011, tossing 2.0 innings in three appearances.
Ichiro, 38, is a 10-time American League All-Star who tops the Mariners franchise in hits, runs scored, triples and at-bats. He was the American League Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year in 2001, his first for the Mariners after nine seasons with the Orix Blue Wave of Japan’s Pacific League.
After leading the Pacific League in batting and winning Gold Gloves during all seven of his full seasons, Ichiro became the first position player to play and succeed in the United States. He led the American League in batting average twice and the Major Leagues in hits seven times (tying Ty Cobb and Pete Rose for the most all-time). His 10 consecutive seasons (2001-2010) with 200 or more hits is also a Major League record, including a record 262 hits in 2004. The rightfielder owns a long list of Mariners club records as well as all-time MLB marks.
Internationally, Ichiro was instrumental in two World Baseball Classic titles won by Japan in 2006 and 2009. He is now in the final season of a five-year agreement, currently batting .261 with 4 home runs, 28 runs batted in and 15 stolen bases.
Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln said, “On behalf of our ownership group and everyone in the Seattle Mariners organization, I thank Ichiro for the great career he’s had here in Seattle.
“Several weeks ago, Ichiro Suzuki, through his long time agent, Tony Attanasio, approached Chuck Armstrong and me to ask that the Mariners consider trading him. Ichiro knows that the club is building for the future, and he felt that what was best for the team was to be traded to another club and give our younger players an opportunity to develop.
“Ichiro will be missed. He owns a long list of Major League Baseball and Mariners club records, has earned many prestigious awards, and in my opinion, he will someday be a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“I know that I speak for all of Ichiro’s fans, both here in the Pacific Northwest, around this country and also throughout Japan, in wishing him and his wife Yumiko the very best as he continues his baseball career with the Yankees.”
Statistics for all three players involved in today’s trade follow:
ICHIRO’s PLAYING RECORD
YEAR CLUB AVG G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI SH SF HB BB SO SB CS SLG OBP
1992 Orix .366 58 238 42 87 110 6 4 3 16 0 0 0 23 16 10 4 .462 .421
ORIX .253 40 95 4 24 29 5 0 0 5 0 0 0 3 11 3 2 .305 .276
1993 Orix .371 48 186 38 69 119 14 6 8 23 0 0 1 25 14 11 9 .640 .448
ORIX .188 43 64 4 12 17 2 0 1 3 0 0 0 2 7 0 2 .266 .212
1994 ORIX .385 130 546 111 210 300 41 5 13 54 0 0 10 51 53 29 7 .549 .446
1995 ORIX .342 130 524 104 179 285 23 4 25 80 0 0 18 68 52 49 9 .544 .434
1996 ORIX .356 130 542 104 193 273 24 4 16 84 0 0 9 56 57 35 3 .504 .425
1997 ORIX .345 135 536 94 185 275 31 4 17 91 0 0 4 62 36 39 4 .513 .417
1998 ORIX .358 135 506 79 181 262 36 3 13 71 0 0 7 43 35 11 4 .518 .415
1999 ORIX .343 103 411 80 141 235 27 2 21 68 0 0 7 45 46 12 1 .572 .417
2000 ORIX .387 105 395 73 153 213 22 1 12 73 0 0 4 54 36 21 1 .539 .466
2001 SEATTLE .350 157 692 127 242 316 34 8 8 69 4 4 8 30 53 56 14 .457 .381
2002 SEATTLE .321 157 647 111 208 275 27 8 8 51 3 5 5 68 62 31 15 .425 .388
2003 SEATTLE .312 159 679 111 212 296 29 8 13 62 3 1 6 36 69 34 8 .436 .352
2004 SEATTLE .372 161 704 101 262 320 24 5 8 60 2 3 4 49 63 36 11 .455 .414
2005 SEATTLE .303 162 679 111 206 296 21 12 15 68 2 6 4 48 66 33 8 .436 .350
2006 SEATTLE .322 161 695 110 224 289 20 9 9 49 1 2 5 49 71 45 2 .416 .370
2007 SEATTLE .351 161 678 111 238 292 22 7 6 68 4 2 3 49 77 37 8 .431 .396
2008 SEATTLE .310 162 686 103 213 265 20 7 6 42 3 4 5 51 65 43 4 .386 .361
2009 SEATTLE .352 146 639 88 225 297 31 4 11 46 2 1 4 32 71 26 9 .465 .386
2010 SEATTLE .315 162 680 74 214 268 30 3 6 43 3 1 3 45 86 42 9 .394 .359
2011 SEATTLE .272 161 677 80 184 227 22 3 5 47 1 4 0 39 69 40 7 .335 .310
2012 SEATTLE .261 95 402 49 105 142 15 5 4 28 0 4 0 17 4 15 2 .353 .288
Japan Totals .353 951 3619 653 1278 1889 211 23 118 529 0 0 59 384 333 199 33 .522 .424
ML Totals .322 1844 7858 1176 2533 3283 295 79 99 633 28 37 47 513 756 438 97 .418 .366
DIVISION SERIES
YEAR CLUB AVG G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI SH SF HB BB SO SB CS SLG OBP
2001 SEA vs. CLE .600 5 20 4 12 13 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 .650 .619
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
YEAR CLUB AVG G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI SH SF HB BB SO SB CS SLG OBP
2001 SEA vs. NYY .222 5 18 3 4 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 4 2 0 .278 .364
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
YEAR CLUB AVG G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI SH SF HB BB SO SB CS SLG OBP
2006 Japan .364 8 33 7 12 16 1 0 1 5 2 2 1 4 1 4 0 .485 .425
2009 Japan .273 9 44 7 12 16 2 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 .364 .273
WBC Totals .312 17 77 14 24 32 3 1 1 10 2 2 1 4 3 5 0 .416 .345
ALL-STAR GAME
YEAR CLUB, SITE AVG G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI SH SF HB BB SO SB CS SLG OBP
2001 AL, Seattle .333 1 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333
2002 AL, Milwaukee .000 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
2003 AL, Chicago (AL) .000 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .000 .667
2004 AL, Houston .250 1 4 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .250
2005 AL, Detroit .500 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500
2006 AL, Pittsburgh .000 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000
2007 AL, San Francisco 1.000 1 3 1 3 6 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.000 1.000
2008 AL, New York .333 1 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .333 .333
2009 AL, St. Louis .333 1 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333
2010 AL, Anaheim .000 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000
ASG Totals .308 10 26 3 8 11 1 0 1 4 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 .423 .357
FARQUHAR’s PLAYING RECORD
YEAR CLUB W-L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR HB BB SO WP BK
2008 Auburn 2-2 2.39 12 0 0 0 0 26.1 20 10 7 1 3 6 27 2 0
Lansing 0-0 0.00 3 0 0 0 0 6.0 0 1 0 0 1 2 4 1 0
2009 Dunedin 1-0 0.53 17 0 0 0 7 17.0 10 4 1 0 1 11 23 2 0
New Hampshire 1-4 2.36 37 0 0 0 15 45.2 31 15 12 1 5 30 51 4 0
2010 New Hampshire 4-3 3.52 53 0 0 0 17 76.2 50 32 30 7 8 42 79 3 0
2011 Sacramento 0-0 0.00 4 0 0 0 1 8.0 7 1 0 0 2 3 9 0 0
Las Vegas 4-5 4.70 50 0 0 0 14 51.2 63 32 27 4 4 18 43 2 0
TORONTO 0-0 13.50 3 0 0 0 0 2.0 4 4 3 0 0 2 1 0 0
2012 New Hampshire 0-1 2.97 20 0 0 0 1 30.1 28 14 10 2 3 10 33 1 0
Sacramento 1-2 10.13 5 0 0 0 0 8.0 10 9 9 1 2 6 6 0 0
Trenton 1-0 0.00 6 0 0 0 4 11.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 0
Scranton/WB 0-0 0.00 1 0 0 0 0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Minor Lg Totals 14-17 3.06 208 0 0 0 59 282.2 221 118 96 16 29 128 290 15 0
ML Totals 0-0 13.50 3 0 0 0 0 2.0 4 4 3 0 0 2 1 0 0
MITCHELL’s PLAYING RECORD
YEAR CLUB W-L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR HB BB SO WP BK
2009 Charleston 4-1 1.95 6 6 0 0 0 37.0 31 16 8 1 1 6 42 5 0
Tampa 8-6 2.87 19 18 1 0 0 103.1 93 41 33 1 8 38 83 10 1
2010 Trenton 11-4 4.06 23 22 0 0 0 133.0 128 69 60 11 6 57 96 12 2
Scranton/WB 2-0 3.57 3 3 0 0 0 17.2 19 7 7 0 0 7 16 2 1
2011 Scranton/WB 13-9 3.18 28 24 3 2 0 161.1 155 60 57 10 9 63 112 16 0
2012 Scranton/WB 6-4 5.04 15 14 0 0 0 85.2 85 49 48 8 6 29 72 3 1
NEW YORK (AL) 0-0 3.86 4 0 0 0 0 4.2 7 2 2 1 0 3 2 1 0
Minor Lg Totals 44-24 3.56 94 87 4 2 0 538.0 511 242 213 31 30 200 421 48 5
ML Totals 0-0 3.86 4 0 0 0 0 4.2 7 2 2 1 0 3 2 1 0