February 6, 2012
by Brien Jackson
The title of this post basically tells the whole story; Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Yankees are in serious talks with Raul Ibanez to fill one of their remaining spots and become the left-handed half of a DH platoon. I personally had bet on them signing Johnny Damon for that role, and would probably prefer Damon to Ibanez, honestly, but Rosenthal is reporting that Ibanez is willing to take less money to play for the Yankees than he’s being offered to play elsewhere (which translates to “he’s willing to sign on the cheap if he has to). That could definitely make the difference between Ibanez and Damon, who at last reporting was asking for $5 million this season.
So its going to be deja vu, all over again. Cash will sign Ibanez, and sure enough, the next day Damon will be in the Post whining that he had "made an offer" to play for $X-1; with X = to whatever Ibanez signed for.
While I'd rather have Damon, I SO don't want to hear him whining about how much he wanted to be a Yankee, and how Cashman refused his advances.
But Damon is a TrueYankee.
Ibanez might be a little more versatile, in that he can still play the outfield in a pinch. Probably not very well, but likely a bit better than Damon. Both are in pretty good shape, so that's not an issue. Gun to my head, I'd probably rather have Damon, too, but I don't think you could go wrong with Ibanez.
Wouldn't surprise me one bit if Cashman tried to finesse this situation by going with Chris Dickerson, who's out of options and the Yankees seem to like him.
Ibanez was an everyday left fielder last year, but he was also really terrible at it. Personally I'd venture that Damon is the better fielder out there these days.