After Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis walked via free agency, the Orioles are left to scavenge the market for a few less conventional options to fill the corner outfield void.
THE RUMOR: Balitmore is considering a deal with 41-year-old Ichiro Suzuki.
REPORTED BY: Jon Heyman, CBS Sports
THE DETAILS: The Orioles are looking at Ichiro as well as Nori Aoki, Colby Rasmus and their own free agent, Delmon Young.
LAST SEASON: In 359 at-bats, Ichiro hit .284/.324/.340 with one home run and 22 RBIs. He also stole 15 bases in 18 attempts.
SN'S TAKE: Although unclear in the report, Ichiro is more likely to be signed in a platoon capacity than as an everyday replacement for full-timers Cruz and Markakis. So it stands to reason that the Orioles would look at signing more than one of Ichiro, Aoki, Rasmus and Young. Present-day Ichiro, although several years removed from the player who made 10 All-Star teams and led the majors in hits seven times, still appeared in 143 games for the Yankees last season and can provide solid defense and some speed on the base paths. He needs 156 hits to reach 3,000 for his career in the U.S. after tallying 1,278 in Japan.