The future of 41-year old Yankees outfielder Ichiro Suzuki hangs in the balance this offseason. Suzuki only received 385 plate appearances in 2014 with New York, and posted a dreadful .284/.324/.340 line, barely better than how he performed in 2011 and 2013. But Suzuki is just 156 hits from 3,000 in the majors, and he doesn’t plan on going out on the 2,844 he’s currently sitting on.
In an interview with MLB Network’s Bob Costas that will air on Monday, Suzuki vowed that he would play in 2015, though he had no idea where it would be.
I have every intention of playing in the Major Leagues next year. Where will that be? I cannot tell you because baseball is not an individual sport and so it’s not just up to my feeling that I want to play. Somebody has to feel that they want to give me the opportunity to play. But I have every intention of playing.
Suzuki’s career, both domestically and in Japan, has been incredible, and no one would fault him if he decided to hang up his spikes this winter. However, it would be pretty great to see him get to 3,000 and silence all of the (completely wrong) people that say he’s not a Hall of Fame player.
