Comments on: Dobbs: Ibanez ‘Perfect’ For Team

By: Sean P.

Sean P. — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:57:49 +0000

Tim,

You keep saying that Burrell is better than Ibanez but no stats to back that up. Looking at the numbers its looks like Ibanez is better at the plate?

By: Tim Malcolm

Tim Malcolm — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:55:37 +0000

Not really, Mark. Looking at his track record, Ibanez is worse than Burrell overall. But that doesn’t mean he’s a failure.

By: Mark M

Mark M — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:32:16 +0000

“The difference between Burrell and Ibanez defensively is almost non-existent — Ibanez isn’t that good. So overall, the Phillies gave three years to a player worse than Burrell, but for probably $16M fewer than what Burrell wanted.” -Tim in a earlier post.

“I think we should hold out all determinations until we actually see him play” -Tim in this post

contradicting ourselves aren’t we?

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:20:12 +0000

Once again, I like this acquisition. He’s a solid ballplayer. Yeah, he’s a bit old in baseball years. But, he hasn’t played like it on the diamond.

Let’s face it, we can’t determine whether it is a good pick up or not until sometime down the road. The man is going to have his ups and his downs, it’s inevitable.

Let’s just hope when he has his downs, no one calls for his head.

By: Sean P.

Sean P. — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:19:23 +0000

I don’t know how anyone can knock the signing of Ibanez (including the article written by Keith Law on ESPN). Ibanez is a proven offensive player on a sub-par Mariners team.

He is better than Pat Burrell in every basic hitting statistic except home runs and walks (which translates to a lower OBP).

The most compelling stat from Ibanez is his ability to reach the 100+ rbi plateau which he has done the past three years. Burrell had only done it twice his whole career even though Burrell is on a much better offensive team.

Ibanez = good signing (unless he sucks)

By: Matt Kwasiborski

Matt Kwasiborski — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:41:27 +0000

If we don’t make any more moves for our lineup, I see Rollins hitting 3rd, which he has done in the past with Vic moving to leadoff, and then Ibanez hitting 5th.

Vic
Werth
Rollins
Howard
Ibanez
Feliz
Ruiz
Donald
SP

By: Don M

Don M — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:29:22 +0000

I would think that Victorino would be a better leadoff man than Rollins.. Werth would be a good leadoff man too with his high OBP%, but his power would get wasted from the 1-spot.

Vic is a much better bunter than Rollins, and is definitely faster than Rollins.. but Rollins is a more successful basestealer.. its a tough call for Manuel I guess because you don’t want to be moving guys around and putting them in roles they aren’t used to.

I think in Spring Training we’ll see them toying with the lineup a lot, moving Rollins between 1-2-3-and 5.. Werth 2-3-5-6.. Victorino 1-2-5-6…. just see who is comfortable in what role

By: Chuck P

Chuck P — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:17:19 +0000

That’s what I thought, Don (lineup). Ibanez in the 6 hole… not too shabby. It should move Victorino up in the lineup (1st or 2nd) where he should be. With Rollins and Vic batting back-to-back, we should be able to play some small-ball. I think it will help some of our young guys be more consistent, too. When Vic/Werth bats second, their mentality is to get on base. That changes, when they move down the lineup and they flopped all year…

By: Don M

Don M — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:00:59 +0000

Outside of the fact that he’s Left-handed, I honestly don’t see how people think this is a bad move for the team. and as I said on Friday, If you can hit… it really doesn’t matter which side of the plate you stand on.

We’re adding a guy who has produced year after year, and with a less than leathal Mariners lineup, you have to assume that Ibanez is one of the players that pitchers wanted to be careful not to give good pitches to. So his numbers aren’t based on hitting fastballs, like Mark DeRosa’s … the other guys on the Mariners were the ones seeing good pitches because pitchers didn’t want to nibble and give baserunners with Ibanez coming up.

While Utlet is out, I think we’ll see Ibanez in the 3 hole, sure to see pitches with Howard on deck.. and when Utley gets back we’ll probably see him batting 6th between Werth and Feliz.. so hopefully he can still get some big RBI numbers

By: Chuck P

Chuck P — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:54:00 +0000

I have been without a computer since Friday… so I wasn’t able to make my inital reactions public (which is probably good). I have had some time to think about this and Ibanez is growing on me. I don’t think that he’s the best fit but if the one word that describes Ibanez is consistency. He produces runs, gets on base and plays the game the way you would hope a player earning $10 million per year would play the game. He’s old but he doesn’t rely on his power so that it’s not a huge concern (I think he’ll still hit 30 HR). I think that his average will come down this year; when you hit in a pitchers’ park, there is more open space to drop singles. I’m not sure where he bats (pre and post Utley’s return)… 3rd? 5th? 6th? The last concern… switching leagues. It’s tough to switch leagues and this guy is moving a long way from home. That is going to be a tough adjustment… I’m glad that he has Dobbs and it would be nice if he had Moyer… somebody brought up a good point on one of the other threads; you have to wonder if this signing was pushed along because of the Muts newly acquired RH relievers.

By: Manny

Manny — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:31:48 +0000

I’m optimistic too…

By: GM-Carson

GM-Carson — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:00:35 +0000

I don’t like the Ibanez signing, but people that are writing him off as a failure already is ridiculous. He’s a Phillie now so I root for him and he’ll likely do a good job. I’m just bitter to see Burrell go.

By: Phillies Phan SC

Phillies Phan SC — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:55:31 +0000

I am giving him a chance!

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:49:53 +0000

He will help us win another WS (hopefully) he is a very good player

By: No Smoke

No Smoke — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:30:35 +0000

Dobbs plays the best when he doesn’t start every day, and when he needs to prove himself. It’s actually nice to have a guy like that off the bench…..he might actually get a hit when he comes into an important late-game situation, unlike some of the other scrubs we’ve had in years past.

By: NJ

NJ — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:26:38 +0000

Ibanez MO is he’s a better player than he’s been given credit for and his age is down to the fact he was a late bloomer like Randy Johnson. There’s a lot of oufielders out there like Burrell who’ll porbbaly be forced to take short-term deals and signing Ibanez for 3 shows Amaro is commited to take a shot at winning. Ibanez will be good protection in the line-up because he will make contact which is something Burrell did struggle to do, I hate to see him go but I feel good about Amaro.

Classy comment from Dobbs though, once again showig he’s a real character guy.

By: Rob Cowie

Rob Cowie — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:16:57 +0000

Ibanez has been a fantasy stud for the last 3 years. I’m optimistic.

By: T Marty

T Marty — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:14:37 +0000

Tim, i hear ya. We have a whole season coming up where we will be described as the Wold Champion Phillies, that has a nice tinge to it. and looking at Ibanez’s numbers we might be in for quite a treat.