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Right, but Felix isn't really that much of a better player than prime-Ichiro. Its a 6 WAR player vs 5.5 WAR. The salary considerations weigh much larger at that point.
The Ms had Ichiro locked up at a bargain salary for the bulk of the 2000s. He was one of the most valuable assets in the entire game.
There were very few guys you could have traded Ichiro for straight up in 2001 and actually gotten better. Pujols for sure. ARod was far less valuable during that decade due to salary. Ichiro>Berkman considering overall value+salary and then who else?