Could Raul Ibanez be a Decoy?

By On February 8, 2012 · 11 Comments · In Organizational Philosophies

Monday appeared as if it was the day we’d finally find out the new DH in 2012. Buster Olney reported late afternoon, that the decision between , , or would be made by the end of the week. up with rumors only a couple hours later, tweeting that the Yankees had entered serious discussions with Ibanez. For anyone that follows trade rumors, the “serious discussions” card usually means an imminent agreement is only hours away. Alas, we’re a day and a half from the rumor and we’ve yet to see anything official.

"They actually think we'd sign Raul Ibanez!"

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard such confident Yankee rumors from the national media flame out; in fact, it would be at least the third time this offseason. The first, a , a confirmation to what we all predicted; was planning to opt out of his contract. But only a day later, CC surprised Yankee fans with an extension. Then there was the news in mid-January, Heyman again reported that owner Hal Steinbrenner met with ’s agent Scott Boras to discuss a possible deal. The team stifled the Edwin Jackson rumors by not only signing , but also trading for .

So we have two incidents where reports suggest something that didn’t happen, so what? Hot stove rumors are wrong all the time. After watching the media turn on beloved baseball hero during the contract discussion last offseason, I’m starting to believe that the front office is very good at manipulating the media. It could have been a coincidence, but the report of Sabathia opting out must have put a lot of pressure on him and his agent after seeing the immediate backlash from fans. Only a day after the onslaught of “CC lied” tweets, Sabathia agreed to his extension and was the first one to announce it to his fans . Likewise, Hal’s meeting with Scott Boras likely put pressure on Kuroda to lower his high salary demands. The Mariners also felt pressure, if Edwin Jackson signed, the Yankees likely pull the month-long Pineda-for-Montero talks off the table. Both parties agreed to deals with the Yankees only two days after the Jackson rumors began.

Here we are again; the Yankees have entered serious discussions with Raul Ibanez, a player who will be 40 this year, a batter who only hit .256/.307/.440 against lefties, who plays a position where they already have two backups. Now that we’ve waited a day and half for news about an agreement, things look oddly familiar. I don’t think Raul Ibanez is the target of this new set of rumors, the front office has put the pressure on someone else.

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11 Responses to Could Raul Ibanez be a Decoy?

  1. TheOneWhoKnocks says:
    February 8, 2012 at 9:43 am

    You can’t put your finger on the pulse of the rumor mill. Sometimes its bogus info they are spreading, other times it’s legit. I do think what we’ve learned about the Yankees lately is that they operate in silence, there are no leaks that come out of the organization unless they WANT the information out there.

    Reply
  2. says:
    February 8, 2012 at 10:03 am

    There were really “CC lied” tweets?

    Did anyone expect that even had he opted out, it would take much longer than a day or two to resign him?

    Reply
    • dirtywater says:
      February 8, 2012 at 2:09 pm

      Not if youre simply hitting the panic button and giving him everything he asked for. Think thats more of the case rather than the slick Cashman manuever the article suggests.

      So is Ibanez a decoy?…to grab Damon or Matsui…who no one is offering contracts to? Why do you need a decoy?

      Reply
      • T.O. Chris says:
        February 8, 2012 at 3:09 pm

        What do you get out of coming to a Yankee blog and crapping on all the articles you comment on? You can do whatever makes you happy but I seriously don’t see what you get out of it.

        He’s clearly making refrence to Ibanez being a decoy to a trade, not to signing Damon or Matsui.

        Reply
  3. Joe says:
    February 8, 2012 at 11:16 am

    What’s the deal on big papi? Have they gone to arbitration yet?

    Reply
    • dirtywater says:
      February 8, 2012 at 2:12 pm

      Waiting as long as possible to see if Oswalt gives up his midwest dreams and takes a low ball offer. Then you can backload a 2 year deal, which is what I believe this is all about.

      Reply
  4. CJ says:
    February 8, 2012 at 11:28 am

    How would the Yankees prevent leaks from the front office of the other team involved in trade discussions or agents? I do hope there is a trade coming for a hitter and Raul Ibanez on a minor league deal too.
    To add to your theory, Sherman is reporting they are still trying to trade AJ and eat $25 m, so they can afford Chavez and Ibanez. That just sounds silly.

    Reply
  5. bg90027 says:
    February 8, 2012 at 2:27 pm

    I’m not arguing that the Yankees don’t use the press for their purposes (clearly he did with regard to Carl Crawford last year) but I think you are overstating the case in this instance. I don’t recall any major backlash against CC for planning to opt out. Most rational people expected him to. I think Boras was trying to use the Yankees in the case of Jackson rather than the other way around. Although if Jackson had been willing to sign for what he did with the Nationals, perhaps he’d be a Yankee rather than Kuroda. I don’t think the Jackson meetings had anything to do with the Pineda deal though. And for all the negotiating with Jeter in the press, the Yankees still gave Jeter a deal that no one else would have approached.

    I have no reason to assume that the interest in Ibanez is anything less than real. They need a left handed bat and don’t have a lot left to spend in their budget. I think he is one of several guys that they would consider if the price is right. This could very well be a scenario similar to Chris Hammond/Mike Stanton negotiations in 2003 where the Yankees have a salary in mind and would sign whichever of Ibanez, Damon or Chavez would agree first. I also wouldn’t put it past Cashman to have a trade up his sleeve and end up signing none of them, but even if that happens it doesn’t mean that Ibanez is a decoy. It just means that Cashman isn’t putting all his eggs in one basket.

    Reply
    • T.O. Chris says:
      February 8, 2012 at 3:06 pm

      Ibanez and Chavez seem to fit two different needs. Chavez would be more competition with Bill Hall for last spot off the bench, thus ensuring that Nunez doesn’t get all the ABs at 3rd when Alex rests or DH’s. I don’t see anyway Chavez would be brought in to be the DH who platoons with Jones against RHP. He’s just not been healthy enough to show what he has left with the bat in a full time role. He makes sense as a bench piece, he’s a better option than Hall to start the year for sure, but I doubt his signing would mean they don’t sign Ibanez.

      Reply
  6. Kyle says:
    February 8, 2012 at 3:37 pm

    Yankees free agency has always worked differently form that of other teams. There is no real way to accurately judge the situation merely because they are the Yankees.

    Reply
  7. Michael P. says:
    February 8, 2012 at 7:10 pm

    I suppose so as theyve inked Russell Branyon on a minor league deal. Nice low risk moderate benefit move.

    Reply

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