The Pat Burrell era is over. The Phillies agreed to a 3 year, $30 million contract with outfielder Raul Ibanez.In his career, the 36 year old veteran has hit .286 in his career. He has a career OPS of .818. In 2008, Ibanez hit .293 with 23 homeruns.
Burrell has the better numbers compared to Ibanez, but not by much. Ibanez has a career OBP of .346 compared to Burrell's .367. Also, Burrell slugged .485 in his career compared to Ibanez who slugged .472. Burrell has hit 251 homeruns in 9 seasons, while Ibanez has 182 in 13 seasons. Neither player has much speed, but Ibanez would beat Burrell in a foot race. Ibanez also has better defense, plus comes cheaper. Overall, the slight edge to Burrell, but in Citizen's Bank Park, Ibanez numbers could increase slightly.
The fact that Ibanez is a left handed hitter is a downside to the signing. That puts 3 lefties in a row, while Burrell broke up the lefties. Overall, its a decent signing.
In other MLB news, the Toronto Blue Jays signed Matt Clement to a minor league deal. Clement has missed several seasons due to injuries. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Ramon Vazquez to a 2 year, $4 million contract. In addition, Felipe Lopez signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
1 comments:
Amanda- I strongly doubt Ibanez comes cheaper. Burrell's not going to touch 3 year $30MM in this market. Plus we lose our 1st round pick to the M's for signing Raul.
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