The talk of the baseball town in the aftermath of the Mark Buehrle runaround, is a contract extension for Ichiro Suzuki. Many of the baseball pundits believe the deal could be for 5 years and…$100 million. I did not stutter nor is it a typo. Ichiro Suzuki could sign a 5-year $100 million contract extension. This is speculation of course, but earlier estimates were pegged at 5 years and $75-$90 million.

While the Ichiro name sells a lot of merchandise in Japan for the Mariners, I don’t think Ichiro is worth $100 million. That would mean Ichiro is a $20 million a year player and he isn’t. What it means to the Mariners though, is that they expect that Ichiro related products will bring in more than $100 million over the 5 year period. The consequences of this deal could be detrimental to a team that hasn’t finished higher than 4th a.k.a LAST in the AL West since 2003. A recent win streak shouldn’t cloud the front office’s judgement, especially since the manager responsible for that streak just resigned.

Ichiro is having an Ichiro-type year. A lot of hits, high average, a few homers and some walks. His high on-base percentage in the majors is fueled by his hits. If Ichiro ever hits less than .300, his OBP isn’t going to be pretty. The fact remains though, that he has never hit less than .300 in MLB.

Ichiro will be 39 years old when this contract is up. Can he really crank out 200 hits per year till he’s 39? Will his body be up to the task of stealing bases? I don’t think so. Ichiro could be a Hall Of Famer one day. He has a realistic shot. But that’s hoping that he doesn’t lose a step. At age 39 when this contract is over, he could have 2,500 hits,450 SBs and a .330 BA.

Solid numbers. Great numbers in 12 years of baseball. So far the Mariners have shelled out $68.1 million for 7 years of Ichiro. This contract could make it a 12-year $168.1 million deal including the $13.1 million posting fee back in 2001.

Ichiro is a great player…but a $20 million a year player? No…not even close.