[Phils20]

OK, this guy is 36 years old. I am just not sure that a player that we know in Burrell is not as good a fit for the team as this guy.

Having said that, at least the team didn't go cheap, and send some minor league player or role player in there.

I do think Pat's health and fielding play into this, and from that standpoint, this is a good move.

Here is the local view point!

Friday, December 12, 2008
Ibanez Is Aboard
Raul Ibanez will be roaming left field for the Phillies through 2011.






The Phillies have agreed to terms with free agent leftfielder Raul Ibanez.
It will be a three-year, $30 million contract.
Ibanez, 36, fills a void that had been in left field since the season ended. It became clear the Phillies did not want free agent leftfielder Pat Burrell back, and Ibanez quickly emerged as one of their top choices. They tried earlier this week to acquire Mark DeRosa from the Chicago Cubs, but once that fell through they stepped up their efforts with Ibanez, who they had been talking to for a while.
Ibanez, 36, hit .293 with 23 home runs and 110 RBIs last season for the Seattle Mariners. He has 338 RBIs over the past three seasons, which ranks 12th in baseball. Interestingly, Ryan Howard ranks first (431) and Chase Utley ranks 20th (309), which means the Phillies have three of the top 20 RBI-men over the past three years in their lineup. (Only three outfielders -- Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday -- have more RBIs than Ibanez in that span.) Burrell ranked 32nd in that category with 278 RBIs. Of course, Burrell also hit righthanded, which is important to Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. He strives for balance in his lineup, but it looks like Manuel will have lefthanded hitters in his Nos. 3, 4 and 5 slots.
Ibanez is a career .286 hitter. He hit better against lefthanded pitching (.305) than righthanded pitching (.28 last season, but in his career he is 25 points better against righthanders (.293) than lefthanders (.26. Howard hits 73 points better against righthanders and Utley hits 26 points better against righthanders. Burrell hits 25 points better against lefthanders, but weighing their options the Phillies obviously felt they are better with Ibanez than Burrell.
Because Ibanez is a Type A free agent and because the Mariners offered him salary arbitration, the Phillies will forfeit their first-round draft pick in 2009 to the Mariners.
*

[Full Cougar]

I think Burrell and Ibanez are about the same level of skill. Burrel might be a little better if anything.

[Phils20]

Seems most of the "experts" think the Phils did the right thing.

I'm just not so sure. We'll see.

I wasn't always the biggest Burrell supporter, but I thought he was always giving his best, and that means something.

The last 2-3 seasons, he even started letting us in a bit, and showing some emotion, which we love in this area.

Best of luck to him wherever he goes. I have a lot more good memories than bad ones of his days here.

Let's hope my Ibanez gives us some days to remember, and for the right reasons.

I think that in some ways, he will be on a short leash here with the fans. Pat leading the parade tells a bit about how the town had come to embrace him.

I"d be a LOT happier if they had gone young in this spot. Replacing a 32 year old with a 36 year old, and another lefty at that, just seems suspect to me.

But I guess with the title of Champion will buy this team a season to prove they did the right thing.

[njpsufan]

From a fielding stand point this is an upgrade. Burrell was not horrible, at times, but he moved and ran likely a 50yr old instead of a 32 yr old. Problems with your feet and ankles just don't go away so he was always going to be in need of a late inning replacement. Ibanez moves and fields much better then Burrell. As far as hitting, no denying Ibanez drives int he runs... the numbers show that even when he was on lousy teams in Seattle he still drove them in. But if he is hitting behind Howard how often will there be men on base??? He is at least a more consistent hitter then Burrell. But Burrell could go on a tear and carry a team at times, unsure if Ibanez is that type of hitter. Playing in CBP though instead of Safeco should increase his number. As far as the age... don't think it matters as Burrell was an old 32 and think most people would not be happy giving him a 4 yr deal. Ibanez has been healthy for most of his career so no problems there. The only negative for me is we lost draft picks. Think Burrell, Dunn and guys like that just saw what they can expect.... max $10M a yr. The Phils didn't offer Burrell arbitration because they looked at the cost...at least $15M. I like Burrell but that was too much, even for a one year deal. And you can bet Burrell would have accepted arbitration because everyone can see what this mkt is like. Instead we save at least $5M which can be used better for long term deals for Hamels, Victorino, Werth, etc.