Ichiro Suzuki doesn't want him to listen to the naysayers. Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams showed immense interest in the possibility of him in pinstripes. And Barry Bonds didn't bite, saying, "You probably want to ask the Yankee players."

The reactions were varied when the name Hideki Matsui was mentioned during a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. But even with a top crop of big leaguers arriving for the seven-game MLB All-Star Series Japan 2002, talk still got around to the Yomiuri Giants slugger.

"After announcing his free agency, the media are discussing whether he will succeed or not," said Ichiro, who appeared at the news conference along with Yankees Giambi and Williams, Bonds of the San Francisco Giants and MLB manager Art Howe, recently of the New York Mets.

"But success is such a vague word," Ichiro went on. "There's no need to chase the level of success people expect him to achieve."

With the New York Yankees apparently expressing interest in Matsui, Giambi acknowledged his talent and said "his expectations will be his own."

"The rumor is he might become a Yankee," said Giambi, who hit a team-high 41 home runs and 122 RBIs for the Bronx Bombers this year. "We would definitely be excited to have him. He would be accepted fast . . . he's extremely talented."

Bonds, who reached career home run No. 600 this year, has seen Matsui on these tours over the years. The San Francisco slugger first came to Japan 12 years ago and has witnessed the progress of the 28-year-old "Godzilla."

Bonds, this year's likely NL MVP, said the majors will "show him the United States' way of playing baseball."

"My advice, after spending a year with (Tsuyoshi) Shinjo, is be yourself -- don't allow the Japanese media to put pressure on you," Bonds said. "As talented as he is, I don't think he is going to have to make many adjustments. I think he'll be fine."

"First of all, I want many of the fans to see me play in a Mariners uniform," said Ichiro, who added he has not been training for about a month. "If we're going to play this, I want to win all of the games."

After the first question on Matsui took up the majority of the allotted Q&A time, Howe decided to have the last word.

"I have a question myself," Howe said. "Does (Matsui) know there's more than one team in New York?"