The World Champion Philadelphia Phillies (my hometown team) and left-handed hitter Raul Ibanez have agreed on a reported 3-year, $30-million contract (pending a physical).
Ibanez is the replacement for free-agent outfielder Pat Burrell who played an instrumental role in the Phillies World Series victory. Ibanez drew interest from many other clubs including the Angels, Cubs, Braves and the Mets. Ibanez became close to ex-Phillies GM Pat Gillick while he was in Seattle.
In 2008, Ibanez batted .293, hit 23 homers, batted in 110 runs; he had a .358 on-base percentage and a .472 slugging percentage.
Source: Philadelphia Phillies (http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081212&content_id=3715027&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi)
5 replies on “World Champs Sign Ibanez”
Given that the Phils are your “hometown” team, I’m curious as to your thoughts on this trade. If you’d like to read a downright scathing analysis, head over to fangraphs.com. Before reading their article, I figured Ibanez had to be an upgrade defensively, and would serve as a quality replacement for Burrell’s bat in the lineup. While I suppose one could still argue that Ibanez will be all that, it seems the counter-argument is at least equally as strong.
Now I just hope the Reds don’t go out and bring Burrell to GABP. Juan Rivera anyone?
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-ultimate-headscratcher
Nick,
That is a great question. Honestly, I think Ibanez is a good replacement but I and many other Phils fans I know did not have much of a problem with Pat The Bat. Of course, he WILL be missed but the feeling around Philly is that Ibanez is a sufficient enough replacement. However, with that being said, I do not think Ibanez’s batting ability will suffice for Burrell’s clutch hits.
Now, I have absolutely no basis for saying this, but Burrell has always seemed to be very prone to prolonged slumps. I always viewed Ibanez, on the other hand, as a much more consistent, if rarely exceptional, hitter. Was my perception of Burrell wrong?
I can’t speak to either’s ability to hit in significant situations…. that’s a question that requires a bit of research, and one which I am not currently ready to tackle…
Well, Burrell had a serious knack for prolonged slumps yes but his tendency for clutch hits made up for that (in the minds of many fans). He was a very bad base runner which proved somewhat detrimental in high pressure situations so we will have to see how Ibanez does here in Philly.
Ibanez on Ibanez’ defense…
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3781606&name=Neyer_Rob