Raul Ibanez heading to Angels

[Angel Oracle]

Cool with this, as long as he's strictly a DH.

And faces mainly righties, having Pujols, Kendrick, and Green share DHing vs. lefties

Although he was uncharacteristically solid vs. lefties in 2013

 

And addressing the "poor second half in 2013" concern:

Only in August was he bad in the second half of 2013, and even then the OPS was .663.

Next to Trumbo's Timmy Lupus like slumps, Ibanez' slumps are a welcome relief. 

 

And we are talking about 1 season only, until Borenstein can take over in LF and Hamilton moves to DH.

I still like Borenstein over Cron in the lineup, long term.

 

I would still bat Kendrick/Ibanez/Freese 5/6/7 in the order. 

Until Freese can return to at least his 2011 numbers, 7th needs to be his spot.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Angel Oracle

[redoctober]

Depth Depth Depth. The more the merrier.

[Jimmag]

Would love to have Ibanez on board!

[Angelsjunky]

Not a fan of this move. I'd rather see the Angels go after a higher OBP guy than SLG. Ibanez is Trumbo, but without any upside. Maybe if he can be had for $2-3MM and part-time play.

[Angel Oracle]

Plus, he can play 120-130 games. He doesn't need to be THE big bat like he was for the Ms

I like the move, but he did only play in 124 games for the M's in 2013.

That is exactly what we need from him.  

He has always been known as a good clubhouse guy too.   

Edited December 12, 2013 by Angel Oracle

[DB24]

Raul “Soul Patch” Ibanez

 

I’m alright with this…pick him up!

 

 

 

[GregAlso]

Good pick up as long as it is similar to or less than his salary last year. Easily replaces Trumbo. Last year Mark's wRC+ (measure of how many runs a player creates & set on a 100 pt scale) was 106. This means he was 6% better than league average. Ibanez's wRC+ was 117, or 17% better than league average. This would put him 4th among last year's Angel regulars. Not only does he replace Trumbo but he could actually be an improvement!

Only valuable in a part time DH role. His defense is bad, but if signed for cheap he is a great asset. He would even be great just off the bench.

Edited December 12, 2013 by GregAlso

[Erstad Grit]

Considering the team track record of signing DH's to one year deals (Murray, Parker, Fielder, Matsui, Hillenbrand, Hill, and a host of many more), how can this possibly go wrong?

 

Bo Jackson! 

[ten ocho recon scout]

I like it!

On MLB Network this morning Sosh said Trout would probably hit 2nd or 3rd because leadoff is wasting his RBI ability. Plus he wants to keep him connected to Pujols and Hamilton so maybe that's 2-3-4, Trout-Pujols-Hamilton.

dislike

Should we bat pujols leadoff so we don't waste his runs scored ability?

[Chuck]

Not a fan of this move. I'd rather see the Angels go after a higher OBP guy than SLG. Ibanez is Trumbo, but without any upside. Maybe if he can be had for $2-3MM and part-time play.

Why do we care about upside when it's a one year deal?

[tdawg87]

Worst case he hits like he did in 2012 but still ends up with better numbers than Trumbo had this past year. The difference in homeruns will likely be made up by Freese.

[Angel Oracle]

Calhoun could easily lead off. 

Hey, Brian Downing did so for a few years including for the 1979 AL West champs.  

Both had/have good OBP skills.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Angel Oracle

[seenoevil]

As long as he doesn't go Timmy Lupus for a 2 month span

[Season Over]

Ibanez on a cheap one year deal is fine. Worst case scenario is that he sucks and Green/Shuck take some of his at-bats.

[bloodbrother]

Not a fan of this move. I'd rather see the Angels go after a higher OBP guy than SLG. Ibanez is Trumbo, but without any upside. Maybe if he can be had for $2-3MM and part-time play.

 

Thing is though, who is out there that provides that? Choo is the obvious one but will cost a TON. With where the Halos are looking, not much is out there. Chavez might be the other option

[Blarg]

Calhoun could easily lead off. 

Hey, Brian Downing did so for a few years including for the 1979 AL West champs.  

Both had/have good OBP skills.

 

Downing wasn't a leadoff hitter in 1979, he batted mostly 6th, never leadoff. Miller was the primary leadoff hitter that season. He didn't start leading off for the Angels until 1982.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Eric Notti

[greginpsca]

This is reminding me of Jose Canseco and Glenallen Hill. That went great. Oh wait!

[southpaw]

Dave Parker too  

[Mark68]

Dave Parker too  

Dave Winfield

[southpaw]

of course my favorite two offseason "splashes-   Hubie Brooks and Von Hayes   THAT  was an exciting year! 

Edited December 12, 2013 by southpaw

[Season Over]

Matsui wasn't a terrible move...just a mediocre one.

[BigGuy951]

I would definitely be fine with this. 

[edgur1995]

We are.just getting older and older and less athletic... Idk how.to fell about this move.

[notherhalo]

Matsui was pretty decent once it didnt matter

 

kind of like Hamilton last season

[Stradling]

He had an amazing run in 2012 late and had a very good first half last year. It would be nice to sign him, Bruce Chen and Willy Bloomquist. That would be good for ten less losses a year.