In what I would consider a pretty surprising development, both the Daily News and Inquirer today are reporting that the Phillies are showing interest in outfielder Raul Ibanez of the Seattle Mariners. What is surprising about the rumor is that Ibanez is a left-handed batter, and would make our already left-heavy line-up even more so. However, looking at the numbers, Ibanez actually hit better against lefties last year, with a .305 average, so he appears to be more a Chase Utley-type who can hit righties or lefties.
Adding Ibanez to the line-up would be a big addition. He’s averaged 113 RBI the last 3 seasons playing for a sub-par Seattle team. He would represent a slight upgrade from Burrell at the plate, and as far as I can tell, he’s about the same in the field and on the basepaths.
However, at 36, you don’t have to commit several years to him. Perhaps he would take the 2 years, $22 million that Burrell shot down. Either way, I’d be happy to have him.
Like his numbers. sign for 2 year 16 mil ??? Love his On base percentage. Hit better on the road. trade Jenkins for a right handed hitting outfield role player? That would work for me.
Is there any chance we trade Jenkins? Does anybody even want that guy? He was a huge disappointment last year and I don’t see him “breaking out” this year. He is a liability to this team in my opinion and if we could dump him somewhere that would be ideal.
Has anyone heard if Burrell is even on any other teams radars at this point?
Jenkins is gonna stay. That was one of the first things Charlie said after the world series. He said Geoff had a down year and he is gonna be back next year and contribute more to our team. Ibanez – thanks, but no thanks. I am hot on the Eric Byrnes idea. Did you know that he was college teammates with Chase? Chase should make a few phonecalls to get Byrnes on the same page.
Byrnes seems like a solid addition, but I am a little concerned based on the comments made by the D-Backs blog referred to here a few days back. I am basing that on how Phillies fans would react if a team showed interest in taking an overpriced let down off our hands (see Adam Eaton). If a team was willing to trade for Eaton and pay his full freight, wouldn’t we be excited and thanking that other team as well?
I would love to trade Jenkins but does anybody want him? What does he have one more year left?
For the record I think Ibanez is .268 career hitter vs. LHP. I don’t like to look at the #s vs LHP for only one year because many times its not enough at bats to get an accurate sample.
Ibanez is a good player and I’ve liked him for years…I always had him on my fantasy team because he puts up consistent numbers and always gets overlooked. I want to see how Burrell compares to Ibanez vs. LHP.
AB BA OBP SLG OPS
Burrell Career vs. LHP 1114 .276 .410 .540 .950
Ibanez Career vs. LHP 1270 .268 .322 .411 .733
Burrell is clearly better so I don’t know if I’d want another lefty. That would force Werth into the 5 spot in the order and Ibanez would be 6th assumably. I don’t think they would go Utley Howard Ibanez. That would be just asking for it from a lefty specialist.
Overall I’m not thrilled about Ibanez. It’s just bad timing that the only good outfielders other than Burrell and Manny are all lefthanded. I guess because there isn’t much else out there I would like Ibanez but not if it’s for a lot of money. I would offer him $6mil a year for 1 or 2 years, but I’m sure he’ll get better offers elsewhere.
Now it looks like the phils are hot on Jeremy Hermida (link below). If we are going after another lefty I would much rather have Hermida than Ibanez. I personally think this is all just speculation and I dont expect a move anytime soon. Our needs will be addressed though I can guarantee that.
http://hotstove.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/11/hermida_on_phillies_radar.html?partnerId=rss_fla
No thanks on Byrnes. He’s overpaid, inconsistent and a career .263 hitter. He had a fluke year in ’07 and signed a big contract after it.
Saw that Hermida rumor. Interesting to say the least.
In defense of Eric Byrnes he was playin great with Oakland in 03 and 04 when he was playing everyday for them. Then he played for 3 different teams in 05 and had a down year. What do u expect when u play for 3 dif teams in one year. Than in 06 and 07 he had good years with AZ. In 08 he had hamstring injuries that limited him to like 50 games.
As for overpaid – in what sense of the word do u mean overpaid? As in he played 50+ games an made $6 million. Yes he was overpaid for only playing 50 games, but he only has two years left on that deal that paid him $6mil in 08 and $10 mil a piece in 2009-2010. You insert Byrnes 80+ RBIs and 25+ HRs and 25+ SBs into our lienup and our offense wont miss a beat by losing Burrell. We actually gain if you factor in the steals. Not to mention probably the best defensive outfield in the game.
Looking at what’s out there, free agent wise, in our price range, I guess Ibanez could be a good get. Not having seen him play, I have a couple of concerns. He is 36 to Burrell’s 32. (Do the Phillies expect him to be an every day outfielder–I’m guessing– or part of a platoon?) Defensively, he made 5 errors and had 9 assists to Burrell’s 2 errors and 12 assists. (Does this mean that Manuel will be using a late inning defensive replacement for him as well?) Also, as bball pointed out, even though Ibanez hits lefties, he will not give us what Burrell did. Now, if Ibanez is the best among our choices, so be it but, at this point, I’m not itching to get him.
One last concern is that Ibanez is a type A free agent, meaning that if he is offered arbitration he will cost us a first round draft pick. The relief pitcher, Juan Cruz, in whom we are also supposedly interested, is also a type A free agent. The Phillies have said that pitching is their top priority, so I’m wondering which one they would choose if it came down to that. I’m thinking that the Phillies will wait to see who is offered arbitration first before proceeding with either one of them. What do you think the chances are that neither one of them will be offered arbitration and we could pick up both of them? Yeah, I know.
I just read on ESPN that the Astros are looking to move Ty Wigginton. I haven’t heard the Phillies mentioned but this is a player I would really like them to consider in LF and he comes at affordable price (made less than $5m last year).
Though Wigginton’s natural position is 3b he played 30+ games in LF last year. Overall he batted .285 last year but hit .340 versus righties.
Also not sure what to make of this stat but when he played LF last year he batted .319 in approx 120abs while hitting only .265 in 260 ab when playing 3bs. Maybe when he’s at a less defensively intense position he hits better????
Lastly, though he isn’t a FA, I think we might be able to get him at a bargain because it appears the Astros are looking to dump salary and I would assume Amaro and Wade have a good relationship (Wade hired him in the late 90s)
Has anyone heard anything abotu the Phils being interested? Also what is everyones thoughts on Wigginton?
on a side note wigginton wen 8-13 vs the Phils last year.
Breaking news from Todd Zolecki of the Inquirer:
Chase Utley will have right hip surgery, and will miss the next four to six months.
The Phillies said in a news release that since the end of the World Series, Utley “has had several diagnostic studies in regards to right hip symptoms that he had during the 2008 season.” He has been evaluated by team physician Michael Ciccotti at the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Dr. Bryan Kelly at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
The release said, “Based on the diagnostic studies and examinations, it has been recommended that Utley have surgery on his right hip, which is scheduled for next week. The procedure will be an arthroscopic evaluation with treatment of any labral or bony injury. The recovery will allow for the initiation of baseball activities between three and four months, however, the total recovery time may require four to six months.”
Four to six months means Utley could be back as early April and as late as June.
I asked Ruben Amaro Jr. about Utley’s hip last week. He said, “There’s really not much to say about it, other than we’re monitoring it.” Asked about any scheduled surgeries, Amaro said: “Not at this time. At least at this time we don’t view it as an issue.”
Turns out it was.
Also:
Pedro Feliz will have back surgery.
Feliz will have low back surgery on November 20. He was on the disabled list during the 2008 season for 26 days in relation to a low back injury and “had intermittent symptoms at the end of the season that deemed off-season follow-up necessary.” Robert Watkins in Los Angeles will perform the surgery, which is scheduled to be a lumbar discectomy. After surgery, Feliz will complete an eight-to-12 week rehabilitation program.
Realistically, He is the kind of player that I could see us acquiring. Right hitting left fielder/pinch hitter.
FYI. Chase having hip surgery. may be out beginning of next year.
“Hip surgery … hip f-’in surgery!!!!! Honey, load me up with chewing gum – gonna be a long winter. You’ll have to walk the dogs.”
Wish Utley would have had surgery earlier so he would miss less time…
On Byrnes- his homeruns and stolen bases are nice but I think as a hitter he’s more on the level of Feliz than Burrell or Ibanez. Other than ’04 and ’07 he’s been subpar in batting average and on base percentage. He’s a freeswinger and doesn’t walk. He has good slugging percentage tho. But I believe in the Moneyball-billy beane OBP stuff. They have a chart that sticks in my mind showing a direct corelation between OBP and winning games. The theory being you can’t score without getting on base and the more you’re on the higher chance you score. So I choose to value OBP as a stat over homeruns Slugging percentage and even batting average. (which is why I always liked Burrell because he got on base even tho he didn’t hit for a high average.) To each his own opinion..others may like Byrnes but I would pass.
As far as the fluke comment. (I can’t seem to find the link) but I remember reading during ’07 that Byrnes had an abnormally high BABIP (batting average on balls in play which is another stat I believe in) The theory goes that players can get lucky and get bloop hits from time to time. Some years players are more lucky than others so this stat can show if a player is lucky or having a fluke year. If a player has a low or high BABIP you can expect it to even out over the long run. ’07 he had a high one so I expect it to even out and him to hit more like he did the rest of his career in the future.
Hopefully the lingering effects doesn’t cause Chase to have an “off” season. He had been consistent and productive for the most part since his call up. We certainly need him to hold the glue together for our 2009 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies!!!!!
bball.……..”But I believe in the Moneyball-billy beane OBP stuff. “ Since you do, you might find this article interesting. I read it a few weeks ago on dugoutcentral.com. The title is, “A’s Have It Wrong: Ideal Hitting Strategy is “Aggressive Discipline”.” It basically talks about how you need to look beyond OBP. Worth a read, IMO.
Maybe he exacerbated the injury on his African safari. Mounting an elephant is an arduous tusk.
JJG, and vice versa.
jjg:
context?
you are a head scratcher
Jesse, would welcome Wiggington, versatile player that could play o.f.,3rd,1st and years ago played some 2nd. Good value and shouldn!t cost much.
Hey, we made a trade. Got Mayberry’s kid.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3715987
College stats at Stanford. Could he be Ryan Howard insurance down the road?
John Mayberry, Jr.
Year Avg GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT PO A E FLD%
2003…. .299 57-45 194 33 58 6 6 4 33 88 .454 12 2 29 7 .344 1 0 5-10 443 15 4 .991
2004…. .333 56-55 216 53 72 11 2 16 62 135 .625 30 6 35 4 .419 6 0 9-10 520 23 3 .995
2005…. .303 59-59 238 36 72 18 0 8 53 114 .479 28 7 35 7 .391 1 0 5-7 529 30 2 .996
TOTAL… .312 172-159 648 122 202 35 8 28 148 337 .520 70 15 99 18 .387 8 0 19-27 1492 68 9 .994
Didn’t format properly………………………………. I guess shouldn’t be excited about this level of trade…………………………………………
http://gostanford.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/mayberryjr_john00.html
Last link. Minor league stats. COuld be our platoon left fielder??
http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=9218