HOLES & CONTRADICTIONS IN THE HEYMAN "ICHIRO TRADE" STORY

Let me start by saying I'm skeptical, and you should be too. I don't see anything happening yet. Although... what the hell do I know? I don't have "Heyman sources."

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com writes: "The Yankees are said willing to offset a part of Ichiro Suzuki's $6.5-million salary in the right deal, sources said."

What do the Yankees want in return? A "good prospect", allegedly. Sure, who doesn't? But is that likely and do Yankee fans want to part with Ichiro? Do the Yankees REALLY want to part with him? I'm not so sure they do.

Look, logically Ichiro is the guy that would need to go.  I personally love the guy, I don't want him to leave the Bronx, but if the Yankees already have a stable outfield and have Alfonso Soriano, a power bat and recently being trained at first base, where does Ichiro fit? He rides the bench. He's a 4th outfielder... maybe 5th. 

But this is what doesn't make sense;  If the Yankees are willing to "eat" his salary to get rid of him, why not just keep him and "eat" his salary. He doesn't have a problem with the role he has and hasn't admitted being very upset.  He just wants to play.  Moreover, remember all the chatter about Ichiro's trade value being "low" this winter and Brett Gardner's trade value being "higher"?  Well, how easy would it be to trade Ichiro for a "good prospect" then? There's a ton of contradictions here and not alot of clarity.

Personally, I think the whole thing is crap.  I don't know if I necessarily believe it either.  After all, we could have the best bench hitter in baseball if Ichiro stuck around.

Oh, and this is the best part, and it goes to my argument... and it's buried in Heyman's article: "Cashman actually said Ichiro would make a fine fourth outfielder. 'He's a great defender and he can steal a base,' Cashman said. 'He provides us with options.'"

For now ladies and gentlemen... this story is crap. Don't get crazy. I'd rather we wait and see what the Yankees REALLY think, rather than jump to conclusions.  After all, Heyman doesn't even suggest who those "good prospects" would be. That's important to the story, and it was conveniently left out. I mean if you're floating this and getting the info from the source, wouldn't it be a logical followup to see who the source believes the Yankees are looking at? That seems like the better story.

I don't dislike Heyman, but I just wanted to pick apart this story.  I'm not getting too worked up about this yet.  We'll see what happens next.

Stay tuned...

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