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December 12, 2008 Latest Mets News Joe Janish

Phillies Sign Raul Ibanez

According to various reports, the Phillies have signed Raul Ibanez to fill the left field position vacated by Pat Burrell.

Sounds good to me. First, it keeps Ibanez off the Mets — let him stumble around CBP rather than Citi Field next season. At 36 years old, his all-around skills are diminishing quickly and he’s simply not worth the three years and $30M the Phils have given him. Though Ibanez supposedly is a good clubhouse presence and a fine, upstanding citizen, that doesn’t replace the fact he’s never played on a winner, and it’s too much money and too many years.

Of course, he’ll likely prove me wrong and have a monster season in homer-happy Citizen’s Bank Park, which I suspect was built according to Ripken Baseball dimensions.

Besides taking too many years and too much money from Philadelphia, I like that it puts another lefthanded hitter in the middle of their lineup. Now, it’s time to stop fooling around and re-sign Oliver Perez. Give him 4 years / $55M. Let him have the patented Boras opt-out after two if necessary.

Further, I also believe that Ibanez — who has spent his entire career in the AL — will have trouble adjusting to the National League. Watch him struggle for at least the first few months as he faces pitchers he’s never seen before.

With Ibanez off the table, what corner outfielder to the Mets go after next? Unfortunately, probably Bobby Abreu, who is worse than Ibanez. I don’t care that Johan Santana wants Abreu — the Venezuelan national team plays in March. In April we play the real games, and need real players. If the Mets are hell-bent on putting a circus clown in left field, let’s make it Adam Dunn. Or heck, why not Pat the Bat?

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Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Micalpalyn December 12, 2008 at 2:44 pm
    N……NO!!

    1. Yes i am glad Raul is there. But I think he IS an upgrade over Burrell. But burrell wasa such a power threat you had to respect him. NOW I think the mets might have to look at Manny. But I think there will be other options.

    Say no to Ollie. I want the picks!

  2. isuzudude December 12, 2008 at 4:03 pm
    Agreed that the plethora of lefties on the Phillies should light a spark under Omar to re-sign Ollie now. Additionally, the signing of Ibanez gives the Phils two backup OFs who are also lefty and no better fielders (Stairs, Jenkins), which should be beneficial for the Mets in the long run. A middle of an order of Utley-Howard-Ibanez should be mincemeat for any opponent heavy in the LHP department.

    Screw the picks, Mic. They do nothing to help the Mets win in 2009. The next best plan after trading for Peavy is to re-sign Ollie, let him be the #3/#4, and let Pedro and Niese battle for the #5.

    I actually don’t think the Mets will bring in any new OFs unless Church is traded. I could be wrong, but I think Omar is serious about going with a Tatis/Murphy platoon in LF.

  3. joe December 12, 2008 at 4:45 pm
    Seriously, Mic, you’d rather have draft picks than Ollie Perez? I’m all for building from within, but Ollie’s age and ability to take the ball every fifth day is looking better and better as we see the kind of money schmucks like AJ Burnett are commanding in a bad economy.

    I never thought I would have said this, but I’d give Ollie 5 years if necessary. The dearth of starting pitching is showing no signs of turning around anytime soon.

  4. wohjr December 12, 2008 at 5:52 pm
    PHEW! HUGE bullet dodged here, and I couldn’t be happier to see the Phils suck up this shlub. Why no Milton Bradley?
  5. joe December 12, 2008 at 6:28 pm
    c’mon wohjr … after the Mets exiled Lastings Milledge, you need to ask why no Milton Bradley?
  6. isuzudude August 9, 2009 at 12:02 pm
    We could not have been more wrong about Ibanez and what type of impact he would make on the Phillies. Or Oliver Perez, for that matter.
  7. joejanish August 9, 2009 at 9:44 pm
    ‘dude, you’re not kidding. I will have to re-address this post before the end of the year — remind me if I don’t. Egg on my face, but, hey, you win some, you lose some.

    Though, I still don’t think Ibanez was worth 3 years, and I doubt another team would’ve gone beyond 2.