Ichiro Suzuki is currently under contract with the New York Yankees but does not exactly have a place on the team right now. The outfielder is working out at spring training, uncertain of what his role is heading into the 2014 season. After several offseason signings to boost the batting order, Suzuki has been bumped down the depth chart and might be looking for a way out before the season begins.
Suzuki is well-aware the outfield is crowded right now with the Yankees. The team signed Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran in the offseason and both players are getting a significantly more amount of playing time and at-bats while Suzuki settles for being the fourth or fifth man in the outfield. Realizing he is now the odd man out, Suzuki could be looking for a trade.
"I don't get frustrated or angry. I just kind of feel like, my reaction was, 'Oops,'" Suzuki said, via USA Today Sports. "I do have goals and dreams about certain things, but when you get into the late 30s, you just have to take it year by year. At this point right now, that's something that I'm not thinking about. Obviously, if it gets closer, if it's something that I could reach and get, you probably start thinking about it."
Suzuki is set to earn $6.5 million this upcoming season but is coming off a year where he batted just .262. At 4-years-old, the trade market might not be that strong, but the Yankees have little to no need for him leaving his future up in the air. Along with the additions of Ellsbury and Beltran, the Yankees just gave outfielder Brett Gardner a new deal that secures him for years to come.
The YES Network is reports Gardner and the Yankees have agreed to a four-year, $52 million contract extension that will begin in 2015. Some thought Gardner would be traded in the offseason after the roster additions, but the Yankees seem to want to load up on outfielders. Suzuki is still trying to figure out what his next move is following all of the business moves.
"Obviously with the addition, I'm going to have to find a place for myself," Suzuki said. "My job up to this point was to come here healthy, in good shape, and that's what I did. And so I'm here, and we'll see where it goes."
