Ichiro likely won't bat leadoff: In an interview with 710 ESPN in Seattle on Wednesday, manager Eric Wedge said there's “a good possibility” he won't bat OF Ichiro Suzuki leadoff in 2012. “If you had to put a gun to my head right now I’d probably be leaning in that direction,” Wedge said, sounding even more convinced than when he first brought up the idea to the media in December. “I’ve been doing a ton of thinking about that and I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do. I’ve got a vision in mind in regards to what I want to see happen. Obviously I’ve got to work off of Ichiro a little bit, but ultimately I’m going to do what I think’s best to give us the best chance to score runs, because it’s too important for us to make a huge step offensively.” (Updated 01/26/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 2/12/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Wedge described his ideal leadoff man as a player who sees a lot of pitches and gets on base, and though Ichiro has been that player at times in his career, his decline in batting average last year left him with a pathetic .310 OPS. If he drops from the leadoff spot, Ichiro would lose some Fantasy value simply because he's seeing fewer at-bats. Still, he's enough of a base-stealer that he would be worth a middle-round pick in Fantasy even if he's not quite able to get his batting average back up to .300 this year. (Updated 01/26/2012).
02/10/2012 13:27 2012 Draft Prep: 12-team, mixed H2H draft
Which picks stood out in our initial 12-team Head-to-Head mock draft for 2012? Check out the results and read what Scott White has to say about some of the more interesting selections.
02/02/2012 12:21 2012 Draft Prep: Our 12-team, mixed Rotisserie draft
It's time for owners to start looking ahead to Draft Day. We get you off and running with our 12-team Rotisserie mock draft. Check out the results!
01/30/2012 12:08 2012 Fantasy outlooks: Seattle Mariners
The Mariners are obviously in a rebuilding phase, but have they done enough to improve the worst offense in baseball? Al Melchior takes a closer look at Seattle in a Fantasy team outlook.
Ichiro Suzuki had his worst campaign in the majors in 2011 as he posted career lows in some significant categories. His .272 batting average was more than 50 points down from his career mark and his five homers were his fewest since coming over from Japan in 2001. His one-base percentage (.310) and slugging percentage (.335) were also way down. Despite struggling in those aspects, though, he was still able to produce with 47 RBI and 40 stolen bases. It appears as though Father Time has finally caught up to the 38-year-old and it doesn't look as though he will be able to return to the elite Fantasy option he once was. But with a young up-and-coming team surrounding him in Seattle, he should be able to still hit for a decent average and steal bases for Fantasy owners. Since he will continue to see steady at-bats for the Mariners, consider Suzuki worthy of being taken in the middle rounds in mixed leagues on Draft Day, and target him a little higher in Rotisserie formats. (Updated 1/3/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
