The Marlins on Friday agreed to a one-year contract with 10-time All-Star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said.
The contract, pending a physical, will pay Suzuki, who turned 41 in October, in the $2 million range.
A 10-time Gold Glove winner, Suzuki hit .284 in 385 plate appearances for the Yankees last season and stole 15 bases. A career .317 hitter, he was 11-for-25 (.440) as a pinch-hitter for the Yankees the past two seasons.
Tied with former Marlins catcher Ivan Rodriguez for 48th all-time in MLB history with 2,844 hits, Suzuki is just 156 from becoming the 29th player to reach 3,000. With 4,122 professional hits between Japan and the U.S., Suzuki is also just 134 short of Pete Rose’s MLB record of 4,256.
Odds are, though, Suzuki won’t reach either mark in 2015 unless the Marlins lose one of their young, talented starters to injury. Suzuki figures to be their fourth outfielder.
As it stands, though, Suzuki’s veteran presence could be a great influence on left fielder Christian Yelich, 23, a fellow left-handed, top-of-the-order hitter who batted .284 and stole 21 bases in his first full major-league season last year.
Friday’s news was already being warmly received by Suzuki’s new teammates.
“Big props to the Marlins on adding Ichiro, Japan hit king and my homie,” new Marlins first baseman Mike Morse wrote on Twitter.
Morse, who signed a two-year $16 million deal with the Marlins last month, played four seasons with Suzuki in Seattle.
Suzuki began his MLB career with the Mariners in 2001 and played there until joining the Yankees in 2012. He won American League batting titles twice (2001, 2004) and the MVP award the same season he won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2001.
After hitting .262 with seven homers and 35 RBI in 128 starts in 2013 for the Yankees, he batted .284 with one homer and 22 RBI in 95 starts last season in New York.
His addition is just another move by the Marlins to beef up their roster around right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, who signed a 13-year, $325 million deal in November with the promise the organization would build around him.
The Marlins made trades to acquire third baseman Martin Prado from the Yankees, second baseman Dee Gordon and pitcher Dan Haren from Dodgers, pitcher Mat Latos from the Reds, and then signed Morse to a free-agent contract.
The club’s payroll was nearly $65 million prior to the Ichiro deal. That doesn’t include portions of contracts that will be paid by the Dodgers and Yankees in trades for Haren, Gordon and Prado.
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