During last month's news conference announcing the firing of general manager Bill Bavasi, Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln said he was open to trading anyone on the team.

If that's the case, the Mariners should deal Ichiro Suzuki by the July 31 deadline. If I'm Lincoln, I'm telling interim GM Lee Pelekoudas to gauge the interest in his All-Star right fielder to see if he can get an ace and/or prospects in return.

Nothing against Ichiro, but isn't it time to blow this thing up and start over? Realizing they had no shot at an NBA championship, the Sonics dealt Ray Allen to Boston and began a process that will someday turn Oklahoma City into a perennial contender.

When you blow things up, you don't hang on to your best player, especially one who will be 35 in October. You don't let the player's popularity get in the way. If you're truly serious about winning, you forget about the marketing consequences, understanding that a successful team is more essential to long-term fan appeal.

Granted, it will be difficult to make it through a season without an Ichiro Hydroplane Night and watching him tug at his sleeve. Truth be told, I've never been a big fan of his, and I can't explain it. I appreciate his ability, but I never go to Safeco with the same anticipation for Ichiro that I went to the Kingdome for Junior. Nor do I stop what I'm doing when he steps to the plate like I did for Edgar.

A few weeks ago, I heard Colin Cowherd say that Ichiro is the most overrated player in baseball. The ESPN radio host said Ichiro is a .300 hitter with an average on-base percentage and a marginal locker-room guy who doesn't drive in many runs (21 thus far).

Earlier this week, I spoke to Cowherd, and he amplified his thoughts.

"Just because I think he's overrated doesn't mean he's not good," said Cowherd, a Mariners fan who grew up in Westport and graduated from Eastern Washington. "Ichiro's a really good player, but the phenomenon has been exposed. He's a .300 hitter with speed with a mediocre on-base percentage.

"Ichiro's a mosquito, he's a singles hitter. You don't build around singles hitters. You build around elephants. Station-to-station (baseball) is overrated. Power wins in (sports)."

Cowherd doubts the Mariners will trade him, saying: "Does Ichiro translate to a World Series? I don't think he does. I think he translates to selling tickets. In Seattle, selling jerseys and putting butts in the seats is more important than winning.

"If winning was important, (former GM) Pat Gillick would have never left. Ichiro's fine, but you sure as hell are not building around him."

A source close to the team thinks Ichiro is showing signs of decline, and when his legs and bat speed go, what will be left?

"He's a very expensive singles hitter on a team that's not built correctly," the source said. "In an established lineup on a good team, he'd have some value. But here, he's just kind of a sideshow in a huge mess.

"What does he bring to the team aside from the marketing aspect? On the field, what are his singles doing? His talents on a team with so many problems in a clubhouse with a tendency to be divided, I don't see how he's helping at all."

The source even quibbles with Ichiro's stolen bases -- he has 34 but only one in the past 16 games. Once he gets to first, with his speed, why isn't he stealing more frequently?

David Cameron of the Web site ussmariner.com thinks criticism of Ichiro is unwarranted. He had a hard time coming up with a reason to trade him.

"I'm not in favor of it," he said. "It would free up salary for the next four years, that's it."

If Ichiro were dealt, you'd risk alienating a "gigantic portion of the fan base," and free agents would be less likely to come to Seattle with the team in a rebuilding phase, Cameron said. He doesn't think Ichiro's fading, saying, "His skills are exactly the same."

Last year in a pair of posts, Cameron produced statistical evidence to support his contention that, at the time, Ichiro was one of the top three center fielders in the game. He also believes that his five-year, $100 million contract was a bargain compared with what players of his caliber got in free agency.

"He gets a bad rap for things he doesn't do -- no power, no leadership, no chemistry, no interacting (with teammates)," Cameron said. "People talk about those things more than they should. They should focus on what he does do. It's like knocking Greg Maddux for not striking players out. He might be a singles hitter, but he might be the best singles hitter we've ever seen."

Cameron wonders why Ichiro's isolation is an issue in the clubhouse, calling it "143rd on the list of problems," if it's even a problem. No one talked about Ichiro's clubhouse routine in 2001 when the Mariners went 116-46.

The 2007 All-Star Game MVP, Ichiro had another dazzling moment at this year's Midsummer Classic, throwing out Albert Pujols, who was trying to stretch a single into a double. Ichiro gunned him down after taking the ball off the wall and throwing a one-hop strike to second.

"He's the best right fielder I've seen since Clemente," Fox analyst Tim McCarver said. "He's not better than Roberto was, but you talk about a guy who does everything right."

Why would you trade a Clemente clone and a future Hall of Famer? By the time the Mariners are truly competitive again, he will be 37 or 38 and certainly slowing down. Why not get maximum return by trading him now?

Lincoln's comment at the Bavasi news conference contradicts what he said last year when the Mariners were in the process of negotiating an extension with Ichiro.

"We want Ichiro to stay," Lincoln said. "We want him to play his entire career here and go to the Hall of Fame as a Mariner."

Things have changed. The Mariners sort of looked like AL West contenders then. Now it's time for Lincoln to bench sentiment and trade Ichiro.