Precision Instinct: Raul Ibanez

The News Journal’s Scott Lauber reports Philadelphia Phillies OF Raul Ibanez (groin) said he is feeling much better following sports hernia surgery last November. He will not be restricted from any activities at spring training camp and said the sports hernia did not affect his play in the second half of last season.

Our Instinct: Ibanez got off to a smoking start last season and actually looked like an MVP contender in his 1st season with the Phillies.  He can be humble and say what he wants about the hernia not affecting his 2nd half performance, but he only hit .232-12-33 in 64 2nd half games.  He finished the season with a .272-34-93.  At age 37, hes’ not going to get any better, but you can depend on to be solid if hes’ healthy.

Precision Instinct: Raul Ibanez has hit at least 16 hr’s a season for the past 8 years.  In that stretch, twice under 20 and twice over 30 – and that was playing in Seattle and KC.  Clearly, Ibanez is enjoying his time in Philly and the fences seem shorter than anything hes ever been use to.  He’s a career .285 hitter,  with no huge swings in that from year to year over the 9 seasons’ as a starter.

Raul Ibanez is currently ranked #33 on our outfielder list.  Here’s a look at our projections:

AB   R      H     1B    2B 3B   HR  GS  RBI    BB  HBP    KO   SB CS  FPTS   $$

545  88  150  87    33   0    30    0    99    57     3      105   2    2   599   $16

Raul became pretty popular with the fans in Phily, and throughout baseball with his hot start to 2009.  Despite that, along with the hernia that slowed him down in the 2nd half, hes’ not a sexy pick.  You should feel pretty confident that having had surgery and fully recovered, Ibanez will be worth the full $16.  We feel that in most auctions that he will go for $12-$19.  Obviously the cheaper you can get him the better.  If you have to reach a few bucks above value to get him, and feel confident that you can purchase someone else at a discount to justify it, then go right ahead.  Even if you have a great deal of value, there’s far better choices to over spend on.  Chasing Ibanez past $20 isn’t recommended – unless you are in a keeper league and the auction pool is thin, just make sure you have built in value to justify it.

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