Raul Ibanez heading to Angels

[Glen]

You'd be shocked if a guy who has put up an OPS above .700 and hit more than 10 homeruns in every year since 2001 does those things again in 2014?

Ok.

 

 

It's called "keeping expectations low."  It's why my girlfriend thinks I'm a good lover.  

[Brent Maguire]

Jay Jaffe just said the Angels had the second lowest left handed slugging percentage in baseball last year. 

 

Makes even more sense to sign Ibanez then, especially since Shuck was in line to get a ton of DH reps. 

[DB24]

Yesss...Soul Patch! 

 

Hope he continues to rake at the big A.

[Angelsjunky]

I can live with this and even say its not a bad signing for $2.75M, although I would have preferred Chavez. But Ibanez might have some clubhouse impact which is positive.

[FabulousFabregas]

I look forward to Ibanaland.

[ScottT]

Chavez just signed, so maybe the Angels preferred him and moved on when he decided.

 

As long as they add a decent SP, I'm cool with this move.  

[Stradling]

Finally, Barney Lopas will get the helps he needs.

[tdawg87]

I, for one, can't wait to hear Mota pronounce his name on a nightly basis.

Eeeebaanyizzzzzz

[Chris]

Cool!

[NorCal Halo]

R Trout CF

L Calhoun RF

R Pujols 1B

L Hamilton LF

R Freese 3B

L Ibanez DH

R Kendrick 2B

S Conger C

S Aybar SS

 

I like this lineup a lot.  I bet Mike likes the Right-Left-Right combo as well.

[beatlesrule]

Hmmmm. Odd.

[Erstad Grit]

I'd be shocked if Ibanez hits more than 10 HR's with an OPS above .700

 

I would be shocked if he hit less than 20. 

[Chuck]

Bill Shaikin ‏@BillShaikin 7h

 

Ibanez career in Anaheim: .349/.407/.522, with 10 HR in 70 games. #Angels

[Stradling]

Its just cool to have someone that is almost my age on the team.

[gurn67]

Since this luxury tax seems to be such a huge deal to the Angels, don't they have to leave some room for performance bonuses? If they were to sign a pitcher for just under the luxury tax, wouldn't they still have to dump some salary to make sure there's room in case Ibanez, and many of the other veterans, hit their performace bonus targets?

[eligrba]

Must be the end of the year clearance sale.

[xboom28x]

You'd be shocked if a guy who has put up an OPS above .700 and hit more than 10 homeruns in every year since 2001 does those things again in 2014?

Ok.

 

Finley had pretty much accomplished the same feat before he came here. They all hit a wall some time.

[ELEVEN]

Finally, Barney Lopas will get the helps he needs.

This didn't get the love it deserves.

[ScottT]

Bill Shaikin ‏@BillShaikin 7h

 

Ibanez career in Anaheim: .349/.407/.522, with 10 HR in 70 games. #Angels

 

This reference has gotten old.  I think it was Rosenthal that even claimed that's why the Angels were interested... or something to that effect.  I trust that Dipoto doesn't care how he's done in Anaheim.  He was a much better hitter when he was putting up big numbers at Angel Stadium.

 

2013 - 7 games, 31 PA

2012 - 3 games, 11 PA

2011 - 0 games

2010 - 0 games

2009 - 0 games

 

He's hit very well against Jered Weaver, John Lackey, and Ervin Santana.  Good news is he'll still get to face two of em, but his numbers in Anaheim may be skewed because he's generally had favorable matchups against the Angels. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

I'm kind of with xboom on this.

I won't be shocked to see him fall face first. Those doubting its possible because of his past need look no further than hamilton and pujols. With ibanez of course being much older.

That said, due to the contract length and guaranteed money, its peanuts to what he could do.

If he can hit 15 home runs, get on base at a league average clip and be a solid bench option, its not a bad signing at all. If he does all that with 20 home runs (which is very possible), its a very good signing.

[greginpsca]

Since this luxury tax seems to be such a huge deal to the Angels, don't they have to leave some room for performance bonuses? If they were to sign a pitcher for just under the luxury tax, wouldn't they still have to dump some salary to make sure there's room in case Ibanez, and many of the other veterans, hit their performace bonus targets?

I can see them trading someone like Jepson at the end of spring training to get under tax.

[Blarg]

Bill Shaikin ‏@BillShaikin 7h

 

Ibanez career in Anaheim: .349/.407/.522, with 10 HR in 70 games. #Angels

Yeah, but all of those home runs came off of Blanton.

[gurn67]

Bill Shaikin ‏@BillShaikin 7h

 

Ibanez career in Anaheim: .349/.407/.522, with 10 HR in 70 games. #Angels

I think we should trade for Arod then.

.323/.395/.678 with 38 HR in 99 games.

[RenoHalo]

Its just cool to have someone that is almost my age on the team.

Heard that, Strad! I find myself also referring to him as 'old', even though I was 3 when he was born. Another plus for me is that Raul is a huge Rush fan..I saw that one year at Safeco on the scoreboard. He better have 'Limelight' as his walkup tune...

Edited December 19, 2013 by RenoHalo

[GregAlso]

To interject something about Ibanez's second half. He had inconsistent playing time and when he did play it was mostly in the OF. It is reasonable to assume that being forced to play the OF negatively effected his body and could have contributed to his decline in production. It is further possible that his body couldn't withstand the wear and tear of a full season, especially experiencing the pounding of playing the field. This may be why his first half was better than his second half.