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A hitter can lose only 20 OPS points per James' system and be categorized as having a DOWN year.
So, for instance, if Ichiro bats .340/.375/.450 with 240 base hits -- better than his career avg -- he will *technically* become an accurate prediction for James.
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Bear in mind that James' system is -- in spirit -- trying to capture groups of players who significantly improve on their previous seasons only, not on their career averages.  
Ichiro just had, in essence, his career year, and James' system is merely saying that he's very unlikely to perform a lot better than his career year.
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I think you both will be correct in spirit:  Ichiro will more-or-less sustain his HOF performance, and James will be right that Ichiro is 90% unlikely to hit better.