Ichiro is hardly a rookie in my opinion. It'd be like sending Griffey or Helton to Japan and calling them rookies there. Ichiro has what, 7 straight gold gloves in Japan and how many batting titles? Sure, the pitching overall is much better in the Majors, but I'd say Japanese pitching on the whole is probably on par or better than AAA level. What's the most impressive about the M's is that you're doing this with your starting staff! They're good, but like you said, they're not stud staffs like the Yanks and Braves.
Besides, anytime Seattle gets rid of a great player they do awesome the next year. Junior leaves and you go pretty far in the playoffs. Pay-Rod leaves and you guys are tearing it up so far and the Rangers have one of the worst records in the majors (due to the fact they have the crappiest pitching staff in baseball! USC has a better staff!)
