4:46pm: Heyman says the Yankees won't "finalize" things with Ibanez and Chavez until after Burnett has passed his physical and the league has approved the trade (Twitter link).
8:00am: The Yankees are "intent" on acquiring two hitters and "remain focused" on Eric Chavez and Raul Ibanez, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. The team's attention will turn to adding hitting depth once the rumored A.J. Burnett trade with the Pirates is finalized.
New York has long been known to be targeting one left-handed hitter as a part-time DH and bench bat, but moving Burnett would free up the payroll space for the Yankees to add even more depth. Ibanez would be limited to DH, pinch-hitting and only very occasional outfield appearances, but in Chavez, the Yankees would also have an infield option capable of spelling Alex Rodriguez at third base. The Bombers were already in serious talks with Ibanez as of last week.
2001morecowbell2001
For the love of pete just trade Burnott already
jljr222
Am I the only one who wants Damon more than Ibanez?
tapehead4
I think it’s a toss-up, really…but I think it comes down to money. Wasn’t Ibanez willing to take less $$ to come to NY?
Chris Barrows
I haven’t looked at Ibanez’s splits – so I can’t judge it until I do – but I do think Ibanez was interested in less money to come. Damon is likely to be stubborn on that – unless he REALLY wants to come back to NY.
MB923
Against Righties in 2011
Damon – .255/.314/.401 (He actually did much better against lefties)
Ibanez – .256/.307/.440
slider32
I think the difference between Damon and Ibanez is minimal. The Yanks scouts seem to like Ibanez so I’m going with them.
MB923
No you aren’t.
Patrick Oliver
No, I love Damon too!
Patrick Oliver
No, I love Damon too!
flashrocket
i’m not the biggest damon fan, but i would soo much rather have him than ibanez. nothing against ibanez, but i feel damon would add more to our lineup
Richard
RSH
I prefer Damon
llasasso93
Vlad would be a better choice.
YanksFanSince78
too bad vlad isn’t a lefty. why are we so far into this discussion and it still seems as if people are missing that point? they are looking for a lefty dh because they already have Andru Jones as the RH DH. The only time they are going to have use for a RH DH is if Andru is spelling Gardner, Swisher (a switch hitter) or Granderson. Neither of the three are what I would call “platoon players) so I doubt Jones would replace them very often to necessarily need another RH bat at DH.
hawkny11
Wow… a .220 hitter and a .240 hitter…..
cano24
Ibanez 2011 OPS+ 90
Damon 2011 OPS+ 110
Ibanez sucks, they should get Damon.
MB923
Well Damon hit better against lefties than he did against eighties.
Yankees420
How many AB did he have against eighties though? I smell small sample size….
MB923
Eighties i see I put huh? Old Timers Day?
Ray R
I suspect my wife would have a pretty good OPS against eighties, too.
MB923
Lol. Shame on anyone who wouldn’t have an OBP of 1.000
slider32
Chavez and Ibanez are two experienced professionals, this is a perfect move for the Yanks. Ibanez will hit .270 with 20 HRs and unlike Damon he can play a little OF. This gives the Yanks more versitility.
Patrick Oliver
Damon can play some OF and sporadic 1b.
slider32
Damon is strickly a DH on the Yanks!
nm344
If you take out Ibanez’s horrible start last season, he was actually pretty good.
matt laphen
Ibanez had a -1.3 WAR with PHI last season, which I believe was the worst in the majors. He sucks.
Corey Italiano
A lot of that is in the field. He won’t be playing the outfield in YS unless it’s garbage time.
slider32
Ibanez’s WAR last year is not really valid since he will be mainly a DH.
Justin Huey
Only two bats? What if some break?
Corey Italiano
Damon breaks 2 bats per AB
Patrick Oliver
If that’s joking, I like your post!
greg
people keep mentioning Ibanez but Chavez would get the bulk of the AB’s vs righties and he should. He did a terrific job last season and he can pick it at third better than our starting 3b ….oh whats his name…. oh yea A-Rod
Corey Italiano
Chavez will be on the DL by May 15
TheReturnOfMrBlanks
Russell The Muscle will beat out whoever they sign for the lefty DH role
slider32
Branyon is a sleeper for the Yanks. He can hit some bombs.
James S
Damon would be the best one of all the available hitters. He’d hit more homers in Yankee stadium. Ibanez has no power left.
Guest 4759
Ibanez hit 20 hr for the phillies last year?
James S
no power left now, not last year.
YanksFanSince78
what? he hit more hrs than Damon last year and then you argue that damon will hit more hrs because he’s a lefty but ibanez, who is also a lefty, won’t? sarcasm? i hope.
optionn
Johnny Damon must be a team cancer if the Yankee’s don’t want him back at a bargain committment.
James S
Ibanez is the slowest runner in baseball.
bayareabeast
no way bengie molina hands down
Infield Fly
That same thought occurred to me too! The problem is Bengie isn’t actually in baseball right now. :/
Yankees420
I’m also of the opinion that Damon would be a better fit than Ibanez, but maybe the Yankees are hoping that Raul is on one of his hitting tears when the playoffs roll around, and if not, then that’s why they are also targeting Chavez.
InvalidUserID 2
Ibanez instead of Damon baffles me. And I think the Ibanez signing will be similar to Randy Winn.
thevauntedchris
russell branyan is going to have both of them sitting on the bench 85% of the time, or cut. I’ve wanted this dude DH’ing for a few years now. Hopefully he can still rake against righties. His previous 3 year OPS on that split is more than acceptable.
SixAces
Am I missing something here? Ibanez? Power bat at this point of his career??? If I was a GM, I would stay far away from him.
Ray R
Is Damon hiding an injury? If he isn’t, then Cashman’s only reason for not signing him would be sour grapes after the way Damon handled himself during the 2009-10 offseason.