Raul Ibanez Signs Three Year Deal

Raul Ibanez formally accepted his contract offer from the Phillies this afternoon, signing a three year deal worth $31.5 million. Ibanez is your new primary left fielder, taking over the spot held for a long time by Pat Burrell.

While I may miss Burrell if you look at this deal from a baseball perspective this is a solid move. Burrell's key stats were that he would be a lock in bring in 100 RBI and he could walk and hit for power. Ibanez may not hit 30 home runs (or he may in this ballpark) but over the past three years he has recorded 100+ RBI seasons himself. In the same span he has been a solid .290 hitter (.286 lifetime) and has struck out about half as much as Ryan Howard. Where will Ibanez be placed in the lineup likely depends on how Charlie Manuel wants to use he and Jayson Werth. As it stands right now the lineup might look like this (when Utley is healthy);

1. Jimmy Rollins
2. Shane Victorino
3. Chase Utley
4. Ryan Howard
5. Jayson Werth
6. Raul Ibanez
7. Pedro Feliz
   
8. Carlos Ruiz

Or perhaps Manuel sticks Werth in the two spot and Victorino further down in the lineup. It has had some success in both situations but Ibanez looks like he may be best suited for the six spot. If Werth struggles at the five spot Ibanez could be pushed up a spot to offer protection for Howard. Howard is clearly the biggest long ball threat but if there are runners on base Ibanez could still do some damage if the big guy leaves base runners.

Trivia Question: What five outfielders have had 100+ RBI seasons the past three seasons?

We'll see what happens, but Ibanez is officially on the roster now.

With today's signing and yesterday's announcement that Jamie Moyer will return and the addition of Chan Ho Park the day before it seems the club is done making their main off season moves. Derek Lowe may not have really been in the mix but that rumor mill should be sht down now as the Phillies have World Series rotation set to return with the fifth spot up for grabs between Park, Kyle Kendrick and maybe Carlos Carrasco. There should be little concern here. The bullpen will of course be solid and the bench may have gotten better with Greg Dobbs not having to be used in the field as often.

All of a sudden this Phillies team is looking to be set to defend their world championship.

Raul Ibanez Statistics (Baseball Reference.com)
Phillies Hot Stove Tracker

Elsewhere in the NL East...
Rafael Furcal, goat of the NLCS for the Dodgers, is back in Atlanta. Not exactly sure why as Yunel Escobar is supposed to be the up and comer, but perhaps Escobar is being used as trade bait for the Braves. The Mets are rumored to have mutual interest with Randy Wolf. The Wolf Pack is unavailable for comment on the situation. Speaking of the Mets you probably know that their big free agent acquisition, closer Francisco Rodriguez, shot off his mouth and proclaimed the Mets to be the team to beat. Yawn...isn't this old yet?

Meanwhile the Nationals made headlines by offering a big contract to Mark Texierra, but I still fail to see how they could pull that off. And the Marlins? The most news they made was one of their front office execs spoke out about the Yankees' guilt free spending on CC Sabathia.

Trivia Answer: Ibanez, Maglio Ordonez, Carlos Lee, Carlos Beltran, and former Phillie Gold Glover Bobby Abreu. (Source: Stat of the Day via Baseball-Reference.com)