Cafardo: Ibanez over Damon all about cost

11 Responses to Cafardo: Ibanez over Damon all about cost

1. Gustavo Davila says:

   February 19, 2012 at 12:48 pm

   Hello. Being a Mexican Yankee fan for life, it surprises me that the Yankees are willing to put millions for a very-veteran DH, when they have Jorge “Chato” Vazques in their system. Chato has demonstrated his good punch on swinging the bat, even impressed everybody in ’11 spring training. Chato is younger and would come a lot cheaper, but it seems like the Yankees are not putting attention into him. Your thoughts? Keep the good thoughtful writing!!

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   • Steve Sciacco says:

     February 19, 2012 at 1:11 pm

     Thanks for the compliments and thanks for reading. As to Vazquez, he’s struck out a ton in the minors and guys with holes in their swing like that tend to get exposed at this level. The best pitcher he sees in a month of playing in AAA will be a routine assignment here. MLB pitchers will exploit his flaws mercilessly, and he’ll have to prove he can adjust and make them pay in order to stick around.

     He reminds me a lot of Shelly Duncan. I think Vazquez would be fun to watch, and I think he’ll get a chance at some point, but when he does he’ll have to make the most of it.

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2. Hawaii Dave says:

   February 19, 2012 at 12:55 pm

   If it about cost, it’s about cost, not defense. Ibanez has never been known as a good defender. He trips over his own feet going back for balls over his head. Damon has no arm, but has always been able to run into the gaps to catch fly balls. You don’t put your worst fielder in center where he played most of his career. Damon still has legs. So, stick w the “it’s about money”, cause defense has nothing to do w it.

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   • Steve Sciacco says:

     February 19, 2012 at 1:17 pm

     Fangraphs agrees with your assessment of both players. I was just repeating what the Yanks have been saying is part of their rationale. I think the extra power and tailor made YS3 pull swing has a lot more to do with it.

     Check out this post Dominic did using hit tracker. Ibanez could surprise people with his power at home. looking at last year, he would have hit 25-27 HRs instead of 20 had he played in the Bronx.

     https://yankeeanalysts.com/2012/02/polishing-a-turd-with-raul-johnny-and-hideki-38239

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     • Hawaii Dave says:

       February 19, 2012 at 4:29 pm

       I can live w Ibanez. I just hope he does not drool over the short porch and try to force homers. We already have a few guys that do that.

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3. says:

   February 19, 2012 at 1:46 pm

   I saw this on Raul:

   “I think Ibanz has more gas in the tank than Damon and I see signs suggesting that the former could be in for a bounce back season in 2012. For starters, Ibanez’ BABIP in 2011 was .268 – well below the .300 mark that represents the league average. Secondly, this bad luck occurred despite Ibanez’s batted ball tendencies (line drives vs. grounders vs. fly balls) remaining mostly constant. It would be one thing if his bad luck coincided with a spike in fly balls or grounders at the expense of line drives, but that is not the case.”- Craig Williams

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4. john renz says:

   February 19, 2012 at 1:57 pm

   It is all about the money.That is all we have been hearing all winter long is they have to cut costs for the year 2014.Ibanez is a joke in the outfield who will turn 40 in june.I rather the yankees make a trade and get a younger and more useful player

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5. T.O. Chris says:

   February 19, 2012 at 3:17 pm

   Johnny just doesn’t fit the need of a power hitting lefty platoon DH. His numbers have always been better against left handed pitching and he wants a full season worth of ABs to get closer to that 3000 hit mark. Ibanez makes more sense in terms of money, the splits, and playing time requests.

   On the defense, neither should play the field ever again. They are bad in somewhat different ways but anyone saying Damon’s only problem is his arm hasn’t watched him play the outfield since he was on the Red Sox. He routinely drops balls he’s standing under, he can’t throw at all, and he has become extremely limited in his range because even in his prime he took horrible routes to the ball.

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   • Jerkface says:

     February 20, 2012 at 1:57 am

     In his career? No.

     .287 .356 .447 .803 vs RHP in his career
     .282 .347 .405 .752 vs LHP

     2010
     .270 .352 .408 .760
     .275 .365 .375 .740

     2009
     .288 .380 .509 .889
     .269 .332 .444 .776

     Ibanez takes horrible routes and is 100x slower than Damon. Damon might not be an average defender now, he may even be bad, but whatever Damon is will still be far better than Ibanez in the field.

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     • T.O. Chris says:

       February 20, 2012 at 5:23 am

       You’re right, that’s my bad. I should have double checked his career and year by year numbers, no excuse for it. In fact before 2011 you have to go all the way back to 2006 to find a season in which Damon hit lefties better. He has had a remarkably close split over the last 3 years though.

       Last 3 years
       Vs LHP .274/.349/.431
       Vs RHP .270/.348/.437
       Still a better OPS vs right handed pitchers but almost identical numbers either way. If we were looking for an everyday DH, especially one to hit 2nd, he might be the option to go with.

       Ibanez still fits our need more though. We need a part time DH who can hit righties for power in the bottom half of our lineup, that’s Ibanez game. Last year he didn’t hit well at all but the power against RHP was still there .256/.307/.440. Over the last 3 years he hasn’t been all that much better in BA/OBP but the power has been there more than Damon .267/.338/.469. Add in that Damon wants to play everyday chasing 3000 and he wants to be paid starter money (5 million at last report) and I think it makes more sense to go with Ibanez. If he can hit 25 HRs for peanuts, to go along with with whatever Jones and Alex do at DH, I think we can all walk away from that happy.

       Neither one should ever see the field again, deciding between the two should have nothing to do with defense. I was simply pointing out that anyone saying Damon’s “only” problem is his arm hasn’t been watching. But yes both are well below average and cost there teams runs, arguing over which is worse is like arguing over which Ocean is deepest. The differences just doesn’t matter all that much. I don’t doubt you he’s worse, I just don’t want to see either ever playing in the field ever again.

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6. T.O. Chris says:

   February 20, 2012 at 1:20 am

   Reports are the Yankees are signing Ibanez for 1 million with incentives, Damon wanting 4 million more for a base is going to kill his market to the point he prices himself out of the game.

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