Jason Burgos
Former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine believes Ichiro Suzuki thought he was going to make his MLB debut with the Amazins. But a petty beef with his agent likely ended any real chance.
Ichiro will go down as one of the greatest hitters MLB has ever seen. During his 19-year career, the Japanese icon posted years with .350 and .372 batting averages, was a one-time MVP, 10-time All-Star, and a 10-time Gold Glove winner. If he had power, he would have been illegal.
However, when he made his debut in 2001, imports from Japan were not as highly valued as they are now. For the most part, many former stars from the land of the rising sun disappointed. So expectations on Ichiro were not high. But many now look back and wonder if he would have started his career in MLB a few years earlier, he might have had many of the all-time hitting records.
Ichiro is a great “what if” tale for the teams that did not make more of an effort to outbid the Seattle Mariners for his services. One of them is the Mets because stories have emerged over the years about New York’s interest and why they didn’t land the outfielder.
NY Mets beef with agent sank Ichiro Suzuki deal in 2001?
This week, former manager Bobby Valentine added a new layer to the lore. In a conversation on the Sal Lucata Show, he claimed that he urged Mets management to put in a huge silent bid because he knew how talented he was after seeing him in person while managing in Japan.
Valentine also thought there was a better than average chance the Mets could get Ichiro because he and the legendary outfielder were represented by the same agent, Tony Attanasio.
However, he added that the agent and club were not on great terms because of how nasty negotiations got on Valentine’s contract, and some in the organization might have confused the manager’s strong interest in Ichiro as just an attempt to get his agent another good payday.
“If Ichiro sat down and reflected on that time, I think he would say, ‘Oh, I thought I was going to be a New York Met,” Valentine said.
After reaching the World Series in 2000, the Mets went into a decline in the years after. However, if they had an elite hitter like Ichiro on the roster in the years after, including their next NLCS run in 2006, it’s possible the club would have made the playoffs more frequently and ended their championship drought.
