Jay Buhner: "I’d vomit" if M’s spend big to keep Ichiro

As anyone who has followed the Mariners for a long time knows, former right fielder Jay Buhner has always been a man unafraid to speak his mind, and in an interview with 710 ESPN Tuesday, Buhner once again pulled no punches.

When the topic of re-signing Ichiro Suzuki came up, Mike Salk suggested that re-signing Suzuki would cost somewhere between $35 and $40 million over three years.

“I’d vomit,” Buhner said on the Brock and Salk Show. “I mean, really, no offense. No offense, we’ve got to get this organization turned around. You can’t be spending all the money on one guy.”

Now, Buhner did point out that Suzuki is far from being the only problem with the Mariners, and that he would understand bringing him back. Buhner’s issue was more with paying Suzuki big money, and that point is hard to argue with. Suzuki, is still one of the best defensive outfielders in the game, but has clearly lost a lot of the offensive skills that made him so special for the first decade of his career in the U.S., which is why many, me includedhave suggested a reduced role for Suzuki—not a benching, just a little more time off to make room for young players to get more time on the field.

What the Mariners do with Suzuki will be fascinating to monitor in the offseason, but personally I have a hard time seeing the Mariners giving Suzuki the kind of money suggested in yesterday’s radio interview. Just in case, however, somebody might want to get a bucket for Buhner.