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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Heyman: Ibanez and Chavez on deck for Yankees

Chavez with Ibanez…and new rekid expected in 2012!

The Yankees are expected to try to sign both Eric Chavez and Raul Ibanez once A.J. Burnett passes his physical and commissioner Bud Selig approves the Burnett deal to the Pirates.

There have been a couple suggestions that the Yankees might not be able to afford both accomplished players for their bench, but the belief is that they are still likely to reel in both, for about $1 million apiece as a base salary. Ibanez is the team’s top lefthanded DH choice, and Chavez, who did a nice job in New York last year, fills the bill as a nice complemenet for aging star Alex Rodriguez, who will likely need more time off than in the past.

Repoz Posted: February 19, 2012 at 05:48 PM | 37 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: business, pirates, yankees

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1. BourbonSamurai, vassal of the Harpsburg Empire Posted: February 19, 2012 at 05:57 PM (#4064404)

How can the other teams compete when the Yankees can just open up their wallets and get Raul Ibanez and Zombie Eric ChAVEZ? So unfair.

2. Bitter Calculus Instructor Posted: February 19, 2012 at 06:04 PM (#4064407)

They'd rather have these guys than Damon?

3. tjm1 Posted: February 19, 2012 at 06:12 PM (#4064413)

They'd rather have these guys than Damon?

Damon's made it pretty clear he wants his 3000 hits. That means he'll probably not be too happy about a bench role. That's his big problem.

4. Repoz

Posted: February 19, 2012 at 06:29 PM (#4064422)

Heyman just tweeted...

"Burnett passed the physical and mlb approved the trade. Done deal"

5. TVerik Posted: February 19, 2012 at 07:37 PM (#4064444)

6. Accent Shallow Posted: February 19, 2012 at 08:33 PM (#4064471)

Ibanez is a priority for anyone? Last year, he didn't even hit RHP all that impressively.

(.256/.307/.440, as opposed to .211/.232/.353 v. LHP)

7. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: February 19, 2012 at 08:42 PM (#4064478)

Ibanez is a priority for anyone?

Yeah, he's toast. I bet he loses the LH DH job to Branyan in spring training.

8. Bitter Calculus Instructor Posted: February 19, 2012 at 10:41 PM (#4064504)

Eric Chavez' last season is exactly what WAR considers replacement level. 0.0 oWAR, 0.0 dWAR, 0.0 WAR. Never seen someone before with that many PAs hit that exactly.

9. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: February 19, 2012 at 10:46 PM (#4064506)

If this was 2003, these would be huge signings.

10. The District Attorney Posted: February 19, 2012 at 10:59 PM (#4064511)

Eric Chavez' last season is exactly what WAR considers replacement level. 0.0 oWAR, 0.0 dWAR, 0.0 WAR.

Ronny Cedeno currently has this for his career.

11. bobm Posted: February 19, 2012 at 11:12 PM (#4064517)

FTFA:

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is said to have had a nice chat with Johnny Damon recently, but the Yankees prefer Ibanez for what they believe is slightly better defense and a little more punch against righthanded pitching. The Mariners are a team that is believed to have had a bit of interest in both Ibanez and Damon, and the Orioles are seen as another possible Damon option.

Where will Damon play now, ~~Scott~~ Jon?

12. Juan V Posted: February 20, 2012 at 12:34 AM (#4064547)

They prefer Ibañez because they believe he provides better defense? Yikes...

13. Dan Posted: February 20, 2012 at 02:39 AM (#4064585)

I really don't see why the Yankees would prefer Ibañez over Damon or even Branyan, but hey, if they want to throw away a few million bucks, that's fine with me.

14. Graham Posted: February 20, 2012 at 10:18 AM (#4064640)

This does seem like the perfect situation for Eric Chavez. He could get a fair amount of playing time due to a potential injury to Rodriguez or ARod just needing extra rest in general.

15. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: February 20, 2012 at 10:28 AM (#4064643)

They'd rather have these guys than Damon?

Damon's made it pretty clear he wants his 3000 hits. That means he'll probably not be too happy about a bench role. That's his big problem.

There's also the fact that Damon is probably looking for twice as much money as Chavez and Ibanez will cost combined.

16. NJ in NY Posted: February 20, 2012 at 10:42 AM (#4064646)

I think Chavez did a really good job last year and with a bit of luck, can be used effectively to keep him from injury. Well worth a $1 million flyer. And it's probably the best single situation for him in MLB.

Between this and

This does seem like the perfect situation for Eric Chavez. He could get a fair amount of playing time due to a potential injury to Rodriguez or ARod just needing extra rest in general.

This, I'm having a really tough time telling if my sarcasm-detector is broken.

17. RB in NYC (Now Semi-Retired from BBTF) Posted: February 20, 2012 at 10:43 AM (#4064647)

Yankees signed Ibanez, $1.1 million plus incentives.

I really don't see this move, but for that kind of money if it doesn't work, he's on the Randy Winn plan.

18. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: February 20, 2012 at 11:00 AM (#4064652)

I'm having a really tough time telling if my sarcasm-detector is broken.

Maybe it's conditional sarcasm. As long as Chavez and Rodriguez get hurt at different times, this is a brilliant move. When they both go on the DL at the same time, then you crank up your sarcasm detector and the comments still work.

19. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: February 20, 2012 at 11:16 AM (#4064660)

the Yankees prefer Ibanez for what they believe is slightly better defense

???

I haven't seen a whole lot of Ibanez in the field, but when I have, he's looked like a pretty terrible defender. Do they think that Damon is even worse? Or what?

20. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: February 20, 2012 at 11:19 AM (#4064666)

My money is on "or what." Damon doesn't want a part-time job for a million plus incentives. He wants $4M and 600 PA.

21. Fat Al Posted: February 20, 2012 at 12:18 PM (#4064692)

I haven't seen a whole lot of Ibanez in the field, but when I have, he's looked like a pretty terrible defender. Do they think that Damon is even worse? Or what?

I also haven't seen much of Ibanez in the field, but I've seen enough of Damon, and if Ibanez can get the ball to the cut-off man on fewer than three bounces then he's a step up from Damon.

22. The District Attorney Posted: February 20, 2012 at 01:07 PM (#4064724)

if Ibanez can get the ball to the cut-off man on fewer than three bounces then he's a step up from Damon.

How about three hundred?

23. Alex_Lewis Posted: February 20, 2012 at 01:37 PM (#4064757)

I also haven't seen much of Ibanez in the field, but I've seen enough of Damon, and if Ibanez can get the ball to the cut-off man on fewer than three bounces then he's a step up from Damon.

Prepare to be disappointed.

24. YR Misses Reggie Bars Posted: February 20, 2012 at 02:25 PM (#4064799)

25. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: February 20, 2012 at 02:36 PM (#4064810)

I'm not fond of this move but for $1 million you relly can't complain too much. He was good against RHP in 2009 and 2010, if he can recapture that success he's a good fit. If he stinks, he's easy to cut as was done with Randy Winn as noted in <17>.

Yup. The lack of sentimental attachment is a big bonus vs. Damon or Matsui. Cutting them based on a SSS would be much harder.

I like the odds of one of Ibanez and Branyan being able to hit RHP enough to give the Yanks a league avg. or better DH spot.

26. ColonelTom Posted: February 20, 2012 at 02:41 PM (#4064816)

The lack of sentimental attachment is a big bonus vs. Damon or Matsui.

Yep - they've already seen that movie with Jorge Posada. Avoiding them is smart, but I still find it hard to believe that the 2012 incarnation of Raul Ibanez is likely to get 400+ plate appearances for a championship contender. I hope I'm wrong about Ibanez - he strikes me as a good guy who always gives you 100% effort - but he sure looked toasty last year. All the best to Rauuuul!

27. Edmundo got dem ol' Kozma blues again mama

Posted: February 20, 2012 at 02:43 PM (#4064820)

He was good against RHP in 2009 and 2010, if he can recapture that success

BWAAAAHHH HAA HA. Ibanez's bat looked very slow vs. any kind of decent fastball last year. He can still drive a meatball out the park but I can't believe any scouting report would say anything other than "Heat, heat and then more heat".

His fielding in Philly was less worse than I was expecting but he will look bad frequently enough.

As a Phillies fan, if the Phils and Yanks meet in the WS, I hope Ibanez is their DH.

All that said, he seems like a good guy and I wish him luck.

28. NJ in NY Posted: February 20, 2012 at 02:59 PM (#4064832)

Yup. The lack of sentimental attachment is a big bonus vs. Damon or Matsui. Cutting them based on a SSS would be much harder.

Huh?

29. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: February 20, 2012 at 03:32 PM (#4064860)

Prepare to be disappointed.

Cashman quoted in today's Daily News:

“I’m not saying a quality defender. I’m saying someone that, for an extended period of time, can still provide some kind of defensive component to protect us in the event we have injuries.”

Doesn't look like they're deluded about Ibanez' defense.

I can't believe any scouting report would say anything other than "Heat, heat and then more heat".

The problem with "Heat, heat and then more heat" is that if you don't do anything to keep (even a former) major league hitter honest, he will eventually cheat enough to catch up to your fastball.

30. Edmundo got dem ol' Kozma blues again mama

Posted: February 20, 2012 at 03:36 PM (#4064864)

cero, sure, I exaggerated a little. But not much. Ibanez is toast as a productive ML hitter. I can't say that I saw him turn on a FB all year in 2011.

EDIT: As I was walking away from this post, I had some flashbacks to Rauulll corkscrewing into the ground after having cheated on some curveball.

31. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: February 20, 2012 at 03:45 PM (#4064870)

Ibanez is toast as a productive ML hitter.

Well, I'm not going to say that you're wrong about that. But the Yankees just need a cheap platoon DH and I can see Ibanez and Branyan being worth flyers. I don't really understand what Raul has done lately to deserve a guaranteed contract instead of an NRI, but I guess markets are funny things.

32. RB in NYC (Now Semi-Retired from BBTF) Posted: February 20, 2012 at 04:42 PM (#4064899)

His fielding in Philly was less worse than I was expecting but he will look bad frequently enough.

Last year Andruw Jones got 370 innings in the outfield (mostly in left, a bit in right). Barring some kind of terrible injury situation, I'd be shocked if Ibanez even got that many. And obviously a guy can kill you in specific situations that go beyond the raw fielding numbers, but I doubt anyone playing 200-300 innings of corner OF defense is going to hurt a team in any real way.

At least, I hope not.

33. ColonelTom Posted: February 20, 2012 at 04:51 PM (#4064910)

If Ibanez were a right-handed hitter, there would be more risk of his playing in place of Gardner/Granderson against tough lefties (as Jones does occasionally). As it is, I'd be surprised if he plays more than 10 games in the outfield.

As for his bat, Fangraphs tells an ugly story, and it backs up the loss of bat speed. Ibanez has always been an excellent fastball hitter, and he's been pretty good at working himself into fastball counts. In 2008 and 2009, his "Pitch Values" against fastballs were +12.8 and +13.7. In 2010, it went down to -0.4, and last year it was -8.3. That's not a good sign for an aging hitter. In addition, he's lost control of the strike zone - his career "O-Swing%" (% of pitches outside the zone at which he swings) is 22.3%, but that number spiked to 32.2% last year. He might rebound, but those look like the skid marks leading up to a cliff.

34. The District Attorney Posted: February 20, 2012 at 05:08 PM (#4064921)

I think it goes to show that, even in a profession where performance can be quantified to the nth degree, it helps to be a good-looking, well-liked fellow.

EDIT: Okay, he looks scarier than I remember. Never mind that part.

35. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: February 20, 2012 at 06:07 PM (#4064990)

Last year Andruw Jones got 370 innings in the outfield (mostly in left, a bit in right). Barring some kind of terrible injury situation, I'd be shocked if Ibanez even got that many.

Especially with Jones still on the team.

36. What did Billy Ripken have against Elroy Face? Posted: February 20, 2012 at 07:58 PM (#4065083)

In that case, whoever's up, intentionally walk him.

37. Something Other Posted: February 22, 2012 at 06:18 PM (#4066515)

Eric Chavez' last season is exactly what WAR considers replacement level. 0.0 oWAR, 0.0 dWAR, 0.0 WAR.

Ronny Cedeno currently has this for his career.

Which explains why the Mets jumped at the chance to sign Ronny for $1.2 million.

/sarcasm

Ronny's played all of 81 games at 2B in his career, his OBP is under .300, and he wouldn't have even managed 0.0 WAR for his career without some suspect fielding numbers from last season. Of the smart things Alderson did last season that kept the Mets from collapsing, one was getting scrubs and marginal players who could get on base. Cedeno doesn't fit with that approach.

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Heyman: Ibanez and Chavez on deck for Yankees

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