October 3, 2003 · Filed Under Mariners · Comments Off on
I think he does have one good current comparison: Kenny Lofton. Ichiro is very similar to the 95-97 versions of Lofton, and they are still comparable players, even with Lofton in the decline phase of his career.
Over the past three seasons, Ichiro has 29 home runs. Juan Pierre has 4. Ichiro is a slap hitter with occasional power. Pierre is a slap hitter with absolutely no power. There are some similarities, but I think Ichiro is clearly a superior player on the field, and we can only speculate on just how much money his presence has made the M’s over the past three seasons.