Philadelphia Phillies "World farging Champs" 1 Week for Pitchers and Catchers

[BigEd76]

baseball-reference.com compares his last 3 years to Jeff Conine

[MDS]

yea do more w/ pitching and i wont care as much

[ice grillin you]

in general ill want the mets to lose more than ill want the phils to win next year

That's just retarded.

i got my title...its all about the death and destruction of the mets now...especially with the way they print money in the new ball park...we all already knew they are new york and how easy their players and fans are to hate...now as an organization they are that much worse

mets are slowly creeping up on the red sox and taterskins as my most hated things in life

[The BIGSTUD]

Ibanez is a nice pickup, I like it. I'll miss Burrell though.

Now they gotta go after Lowe since Burnett is going to NY.

[SD_Eagle5]

Raul Ibanez will turn 37 during the first year of his three-year deal with the Phillies and finish it at the age of 39. He's very similar to the player he's replacing, Pat Burrell. But Ibanez is four years older, is a far worse defensive player, and -- outside of a blip in 2008 -- does not hit left-handed pitching. (His OPS against left-handers was .650 in 2007 and .661 in 2006.)

If the Phillies were willing to give this contract to Ibanez, they should have offered it to Burrell, who at least is less likely to fall off a cliff offensively and would have kept the Phillies' lineup a little more balanced. The difference in 2009 will be slight, but by 2011 there's a good chance Ibanez will just be an albatross, both financially and defensively.

The most absurd part of this signing is the fact that the Phillies decided not to offer arbitration to Burrell, who also had a Type A designation, meaning that the Phils could have either brought him back on a one-year deal or received two high draft picks if he signed elsewhere. If Burrell had accepted (the deadline was earlier this week), the Phillies would have had Burrell on every general manager's favorite Christmas gift, a one-year contract, which limits the team's downside risk and may even provide a boost by putting the player into another walk year. If Burrell had not accepted, which seems likely for a number of reasons, the Phillies would have been set up to receive two draft picks, a compensatory pick and probably a late first-rounder or early second-rounder. It's a win either way, so signing a very similar player to a three-year contract without getting the picks for Burrell is plain ol' mismanagement, and to make matters worse, the move costs the Phillies their own first-round draft pick. We're talking about the scouting staff that drafted top prospects Michael Taylor, Dominic Brown, Jason Donald and Lou Marson in the last few years, as well as Adrian Cardenas and Josh Outman, who were both used to land Joe Blanton in a midseason trade. The goal should be to give the scouting department more picks, not fewer, unless the move makes the big-league club better, which the Burrell-for-Ibanez tradeoff does not.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

In Ruben we trust.

[BigEd76]

just a heads up for xmas shopping or whatever: that 8-dvd world series set is only $55 at Best Buy, compared to $70 at Modells and a few other places

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

I have the final 3 1/2 innings and the following Baseball Tonight on my DVR fo' free.

[Rome]

The Phillies got tired of dealing with Burrell's prolonged slumps and defensive shortcomings.   Why people are up in arms over him being shown the door is curious to say the least.  Ibanez, on the other hand, I think this is a good signing and I'm fine with it.  I'm a little concerned at the fact that they're going to be extremely top-heavy with lefties next year, though.

[SD_Eagle5]

I doubt many people have a problem with the Ibanez signing, overall I think his consistency will make the Phils lineup that much better. The problem is they could have offered Burrell - a player that's 5 years younger - arbitration, that locks up LF for at least 1 year and if signs with another club they're compensated. The core of this current team was built through the draft, so the real question is would you have rather had the right handed hitting 31 year old Burrell at 1 year $14 million and keep your 1st round pick or a left handed hitting 37 year old Ibanez at 3 years-$31.5 million and sacrificing your 1st pick. It's not so much the signing I'm upset with it's that there were better alternatives.

[Rome]

Seamheads seem to be the ones who are crushed over Burrell leaving.  See the Billy Beane's of the world for proof of that.

As for Burrell, I have no problem seeing him depart.   I would have liked for them to pick up a guy that hits from the right with Ibanez's production but they're just not out there.

As for the arbitration thing, I think the Phillies are scared shteinless of it after the Polanco fiasco.  I think they offered Pat the 2 year/20 million dollar deal that was leaked after the World Series, he turned it down, and the moment he did they moved on.  I agree that arbitration was likely the better way to go but I can't be all that upset about them picking up a guy who's hit 20+ homers and driven in 100+ RBI's in each of the past three seasons.

[Geowhizzer]

Not that I am a huge Burrell fan, but this move is curious for a few reasons:

1.  It makes the line-up that much more lefty-dominated, especially in the middle with Utley-Howard-Ibanez.
2.  Ibanez is my age.  Too damn old to commit that much money for a team supposedly on a budget.
3.  Ibanez may be a worse defensive outfielder than Burrell.

[Wingspan]

Ibanez would bat 6th. Werth 5th.

[MDS]

rollins
vic
utley
howard
werth
ibanez
dobbs/feliz
ruiz
pitcher

certainly better with burrell but whatever, so long as the mets fail the phils could go 0-162 and id still be fine

[ice grillin you]

Seamheads seem to be the ones who are crushed over Burrell leaving.  See the Billy Beane's of the world for proof of that.

this is true...emerald chessboard FTL

but the bigger reason is everyones memory of pat on the clydesdale wagon with his dog...that overshadows everything....his multi month slumps...his disgraceful fielding...worse running...and his .071 WS batting average