SEATTLE — Ichiro Suzuki is headed to a new team and, after all these years, maybe a shot at playing in the World Series.
The New York Yankees acquired the star outfielder from the Seattle Mariners in a trade Monday for two young pitchers.
The Yankees, with the best record in the majors, also got cash in the deal that sent 25-year-old righties D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar to the last-place Mariners.
The trade was announced a few hours before the Yankees played at Seattle.
Suzuki, 38, had spent his whole big league career with Seattle. The 10-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner is batting .261 with four home runs, 28 RBI and 15 stolen bases this year.
Suzuki is a career .322 hitter, a former AL MVP and holds the record for most hits in a season. He had batted over .300 in every season until dipping last year.
The only thing missing on Suzuki’s resume is an appearance in the World Series, and he may get a chance with the Yankees. Suzuki was the AL MVP and Rookie of the Year in 2001 after a stellar career in Japan, and the Mariners reached the AL championship series that season before losing to the Yankees. Seattle has not been back to the playoffs since then.
The Yankees made the trade a few days after learning that speedy outfielder Brett Gardner would likely miss the rest of the season because of an elbow problem.
The Yankees certainly hope this trade with the Mariners works out better than the last big deal between the teams. New York sent prized young catcher Jesus Montero to Seattle before the season for All-Star pitcher Michael Pineda, who was later injured and is out for the year.
Mitchell made his major league debut this season and pitched four games for the Yankees. Farquhar made his big league debut last year with Toronto and was claimed last month on waivers by the Yankees from Oakland.
In another deal, the Detroit Tigers acquired right-hander Anibal Sanchez and second baseman Omar Infante from Miami, sending 21-year-old righty Jacob Turner and two minor leaguers to the Marlins.
The deal gives the Tigers a likely solution to their season-long problems at second base and adds another experienced arm to their starting rotation. The trade underscores Detroit’s desire to win now after signing slugger Prince Fielder in the offseason. Turner was considered the Tigers’ top pitching prospect and earned his first major league win Sunday.
Miami also receives catcher Rob Brantley and left-hander Brian Flynn in the deal.
Detroit is coming off a three-game sweep of Chicago that propelled them into first place in the AL Central.
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