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I remember looking at Runners on vs bases empty splits in like 2007 for his career and seeing that, although he had a big split in his first couple of seasons, it seemed to be dwindling...but that was including runners at first (not scoring position)...and the Mariners, as you know, didn't have guys in scoring position for Ichiro much after about 2003.  So...WHOA!  I never realized this was such an extreme split for Ichiro...and with 2000 plate appearances per out type and over 2000 PA with men on vs. several thousand for bases empty to talk about...this is certianly a statistically significant split.
WHOA again.  Ichiro #3 is, therefore, absolutely the right call.  And likely always has been.  In point of fact, a line drive singles hitter is more likely to leverage the speed of guys in front of him (Ackley and Figgins) if they're on base than a slugger (Smoak or Montero)...so...if you're going with faster guys up front (Figgins/Ackley)...they have more value with Ichiro third anyway.
So.../cosign big time on this move for two reasons - Ichiro is better this way...and so are Figgins/Ackley if they are getting on base.  And think of the opportunities for Smoak or Montero to thump a multi-run dinger with Ichiro having worked a walk or fought and fouled off a ton of pitches to stay alive right in front of them and kept innings alive.  Just...wow.