Raul Ibanez: I'm old and I'm swinging for the fences..

[Hollyw00d]

kind of an old article but still entertaining and gives a little insight on how this year could go for old man river

 

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/im-old-and-im-swinging-for-the-fences-raul-ibanez-as-power-producer/

 

[Glen]

Somewhere, Scioscia just got a boner.

[Richard]

Swing away Raul. 

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=vtp_longest_drives&content_id=28846429

[tdawg87]

Someone needs to tell him he is no longer going to face Angels pitching.

[Ohtaniland]

Fast forward 3 years...

 

Albert Pujols: I'm old and I'm swinging for the fences......as usual.

[Brent Maguire]

If he hits 20-25 HR and has an OPS above .775, I'm fine with him swinging for the fences.

[eligrba]

He would not be the first player to be paid by the Angels while facing Angel pitching.

[Tyler]

Sounds like a good Trumbo replacement.

[Homebrewer]

Sounds like a good Trumbo replacement.

If he can just make contact after the ASB, he will be an upgrade.

[arch stanton]

I'll bet he steals more bases than Borjous.

[YouthofToday]

My new motto while out clubbing in Hollywood.

Edited January 22, 2014 by YouthofToday

[Halofan]

We have a habit of signing diamonds that turn into pumpkins. Maybe by signing pumpkins they will turn into diamonds, Like they do for Oakland.

[NachoPop]

And God willing he clears it a few times. No idea what to expect from here this year

[LBHalos17]

I like this pick-up, as I've always had a lot of respect for Ibanez as an old-school, hardballer, who knows how to step-up in situations (even recently as an old-guy).  I'm excited to be able to watch more of him, and hear more from him about his approach to the game.  He'll be a good addition to the clubhouse for sure, and hopefully put-up some decent numbers for us.

[Hubs]

I expect a .240-.260 average, 20-30 HR, 30-20 doubles. A triple or two. (45-55 XBH total). 

 

He'll do this in 120-130 games. I'd expect him to start at DH against all right handed starters, which will end up being somewhere between 100-110 games this year. He'll get an occasional start against a lefty, plus he'll get AB off the bench when a lefty starts the game and he does not.

 

I hope he strikes out less than he did in Philly or Seattle, more in line with his NYY numbers from 2012, but hey, that's a bonus. 

 

He'll give us 80% of what Trumbo would have with equivalent average and OBP. Not bad.

[Hollyw00d]

I've always liked ibanez too, he's got sick power and he always destroyed us in the past.  His clutchiness is through the roof.

 

I'm just hoping he doesn't get too swing happy and his OBP takes a nosedive

[Angel Oracle]

Cerrano approves!

[Jason]

I think this is the Halos expectations of him too. To hit.

[gurn67]

This reminds of when Gene Mauch tried to convince Reggie Jackson in 1985 that he could add 5 years to his career if he took more pitches and cut down on his swing. Reggie already had batted .194 & .223 in 83 & 84 trying to hit everything out of the park as he got close to 500 career Home Runs which he accomplished at the end of the 1984 season. 

In 1985 he took a lot more pitches and got his on-base percentage up to .360 and hit a respectable 27 home runs. At the All-Star break in 1986, Reggie had an incredible on-base percentage of .414 but only had 9 home runs. Shortly after the All-Star break, I remember reading an interview where Reggie said he was paid to hit home runs and he changed his approach. The result, a .195 BA the rest of the season and an OBP of .297 in 1987 and he was out of baseball.

Edited January 22, 2014 by gurn67