I’ve heard a lot of talk about Ichiro being the “best player in baseball.” It’s simply not true. Ignore the fans he attracts to games and focus for a moment on just what he does on the baseball field. Let’s take a look at Ichiro’s four major strengths as a ball player:

Ichiro can run, but he hasn’t come closer than twenty stolen bases shy of his magical rookie campaign when he stole 56 bases. Let’s not forget that in that season, he was caught stealing a whopping 14 times, which means he was thrown out once out of every five times he tried to steal. Mike Cameron, his outfield partner that season, stole 34 bases and was only caught five times. The following season, Ichiro stole a career-low 31 bases and was caught stealing a mind-boggling 15 times. Rickey Henderson would be ashamed.

Ichiro can hit for average. This can’t be disputed; however, if we view his .372 average in 2004 as an aberration, his average has decreased every year since his rookie season. (.350 in 2001, .321 in 2002, .312 in 2003, and .310 in 2005 at the time this article was written.) Yes, 2004 was a magical season, but it was also far from ordinary.

Ichiro can field his position. He’s not the only one, though. He’s put up fielding percentages of above .990 in each season in the major leagues, but for comparison’s sake, in 2004 Gary Sheffield had a .983 fielding percentage. Sheffield also clobbered 36 home runs that season. Larry Walker has a .987 career fielding percentage. He also is approaching 400 career home runs. Ichiro is arguably the best defensive right fielder in baseball, but would a small sacrifice defensively be more than compensated for by trading for a power hitter?

Ichiro has a great arm. True.

But so does Vladimir Guerrero, and while Ichiro is going to be 32 in October, Guerrero turned 29 this year. In fact, the Angels outfielder intrigues me the most. Guerrero has batted .324 in ten major league seasons; Ichiro is at .337 in five seasons. Guerrero’s fielding percentage for his career is .962, while Ichiro’s is at .994. So, out of 100 plays, Guerrero makes errors on three more of them than Ichiro. However, Ichiro has hit 40 home runs in his career, whereas over the same time period, Guerrero has hit 124. As a lead-off hitter, Ichiro should be depended on to get on base. Yes, he puts the ball in play, and yes, he gets a lot of hits, but his on-base percentage is just .382, compared to Guerrero’s .389. Guerrero has better slugging numbers, drives in more runs, and draws more walks. He has more prime years ahead of him, while Ichiro might be on the way down. I say if a player like Vladimir Guerrero is available, throw caution to the wind and TRADE ICHIRO!