Yankees Add Lefty Power In Ibanez
If the Yankees’ stable of position players was missing one thing, it was a left-handed power bat to come off the bench. Today, the Yankees signed Raul Ibanez to a one-year deal, ostensibly to fill that hole. Ibanez, however, has rapidly felt the effects of aging of late. Can he provide enough of a punch off the bench to help the Yankees in 2012?
Even as Ibanez declined in 2010, his ability to hit right-handed pitching remained, as he posted a .352 wOBA (116 wRC+) in 445 plate appearances. That wasn’t the case in 2011 as his slide continued. Ibanez hit just .245/.289/.413 overall and his performance against righties dropped to a .322 wOBA (101 wRC+). It was the first time since we have recorded splits (back to 2002) that Ibanez posted a sub-115 wRC+ against right-handed pitching.
Still, Ibanez showed he can still take righties deep. Sixteen of his 20 home runs came off of right-handed pitching and he finished with a very solid .440 slugging percentage. The downside was a poor 68 strikeouts against just 30 walks, leading to a tepid .301 on-base percentage in the split.
All of this is probably fine for the Yankees, who only need Ibanez as a left-handed platoon partner for Andruw Jones in the DH slot. If Ibanez ever takes the field it will probably be for emergency purposes only; beyond his horrible -19 UZR last season, his defensive struggles are well documented.
If there ever was a place for Ibanez’s power to be leveraged, it’s the new Yankee Stadium. Philadelphia has never hurt a hitter, and as a lefty Ibanez probably got a touch of help from it in 2011. According to the 2012 Bill James Handbook, Citizen’s Bank Park increased left-handed home runs by nine percent over the past three seasons. That’s all fine and good, but Yankee Stadium is only the best park for power-hitting left-handed batters: the three-year park factor provided by James’s handbook is the highest in the league at an absurd 143 — increasing home runs by 43%. Even in limited action, a repeat of 20 home runs could be possible for the 39-year-old.
Ibanez is not an ideal player by any means, but as long as the Yankees understand his weaknesses and strengths, he should serve as a fine left-handed specialty bat off the bench. And looking at the rest of New York’s stable of position players, that’s about all they need out of him.
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Not sure why they signed Ibanez when they have branyan on a minor league deal. I figure he has a better shot to rebound than Ibanez
Agree. At the very least the Yankees could have inked Ibanez to a minor league deal to compete with Branyan. Although Ibanez may have had other major league options out there.
Either way, I think we might be over-estimating Branyan’s ability to rebound from what was a truly awful campaign in 2011. Maybe it was a down year, but more likely at 35, it was the continuation of a decline phase.
You mean the Russel Branyan who put up a .197/.295/.370 line last year? And who hasn’t played a single game in the outfield in four years? How would that help them fill their fifth outfielder / platoon DH spot, exactly?
@JimNYC
Russ Branyan last 600 PA RC+ 111, Raul Ibanez last 600 PA RC+ 106. Branyan is also 3.5 years younger. Neither of them should ever play the outfield again and both are probably done. They are basically the same player yet your post makes it sound as if Ibanez is clearly superior and will be playing OF on a semi-regular basis. This is simply not true. The only area in which Ibanez trumps Branyan is health, however if Branyan is healthy I think he could repeat his 2010 numbers which were better than either of Ibanez’s last two seasons.
Still I dont see how Ibanez’s contract really guarantees him a better shot at the job than Branyan since the Yanks signed Ibanez to chump change that they can easily swallow if they decide Raul is not going to cut it. Personally I doubt either player will see many PAs.
I think they’re looking at 100 PA’s, tops, from this player, maybe 150.
On the ESPN story- “The Yankees, in part, favored Ibanez over other free agents, like Johnny Damon, because they think he can play defense.”
Oh dear.
I don’t think that they think he can play GOOD defense. Or even average defense. But they think he can play out there occasionally without hurting himself. That is more than can be said for Branyan, Damon and Matsui. It seems like a reasonable assumption. I don’t think that the Yankee FO’s opinion of Ibanez is any higher than yours or mine. They just don’t think much of Damon and Matsui, and they want a safeguard against Branyan being toast.
I think they want somebody who can play 15 or so games in the outfield — Gardner and Granderson don’t need defensive replacements, and Jones is the fourth outfielder. They just need somebody who can play RF against RH pitching every now and then when Tex takes a DH day and Swisher moves to 1B. Ibanez gives more value in that role than Damon or Matsui, at this point.
Is Damon worse the Ibanez in the field now?
Yes. As is Matsui.
As a Phillies fan, I highly appreciate the supplemental draft pick they just gave to us (not from them but due to his Type B status.)
Raul is done. Raul can play defense…about as good as Stevie Wonder can read a street sign.
Agreed. I thought Raul would retire and that the Phils would not benefit from him allowing the team to offer arbitration.
At least Stevie will bump into a street sign every now and then.
Very good point.
Hahaha, that GIF is classic.
I hate this deal with a passion. I would have much rather had Damon than Ibanez. I don’t think Damon has ever even been injured (other than little things that all players get throughout the course of a season) and see no reason as to why they think he would get hurt.
Damon had the ideal stroke for Yankee Stadium, can still run, and obviously knows and gets along with the majority of the guys in the clubhouse.
Damon wants $5 million. In other words he wasn’t available.
We’re the New York Yankees and we just freed up $13M, don’t tell me that $5M is out of our price range.
And the New York Yankees are currently run by Brian Cashman, who doesn’t pay $5 mill for one half of a DH platoon.
Of the $13 million saved, $5 million of that was for this year and $8 million next year. So you’d be asking the Yankees to spend all of their savings this year on a guy who might not be a better option than the one they just signed. They are also likely going to sign Chavez for roughly $1 million. That would be $2.2 for two players instead of 1 for $5 million. I think Cashman got this right.
As a Phillies fan, wishing Raul the best. Class act all the way.
I don’t get why Damon “can’t” play defense. He still has range, just no arm. Hide him in LF once in a while.
Tampa thought so highly of Damon that they preferred Luke Scott over him this year.
TB NonTendered Damon because he won’t give a discount. He lost most of his Red Sox and Yankees money in the Madoff scam. The question is who still looking for an aging leadoff hitter with no arm at 5 mil?
@AA, Kevin is exactly right. Also, like Ibanez, it’s not like he can’t he just can’t do it well. Ibanez has played more games in the OF the past couple of years than Damon also.
At $1.1M with incentives up to $4M, I’m not sure if they’re looking at him as a bench player. He’s a lock for DHing against righties.
Only if he can still hit them. He’s also a lock to be released if it looks like he’s done. He won’t get a long lease. That’s the other benefit of the small contract, they can just eat it and move on.
Wow, looks like the Yankees added a monument in left field too.