Angels To Sign Raul Ibanez

[Johnnydollaz89]

The Angels and Raul Ibanez are in agreement on a one-year, $2.75MM contract that contains additional incentives, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Ibanez can earn up to $5MM total, Heyman adds (Twitter links). Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish first reported that the two sides were close (on Twitter), and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register first tweeted the one-year, $2.75MM guarantee.
The 41-year-old Ibanez turned back the clock with a surprising 29-homer campaign with the Mariners last year. Ibanez slashed .242/.306/.487 and hit lefties equally as well as he hit right-handed pitching. However, the Mariners gave Ibanez a surprising 832 innings in the outfield, where his glove was poor enough for Fangraphs to grade him as a replacement-level player and Baseball-Reference to peg him at a mere 0.4 WAR despite his power.
In that sense, Anaheim is a logical fit, as they don't need to play Ibanez in the outfield given the presence of Josh Hamilton, Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun and J.B. Shuck. Ibanez figures to receive the lion's share of at-bats as the Halos' DH and should replace some of the power lost in the trade that sent Mark Trumbo to the Diamondbacks.
As Fletcher points out (on Twitter), this move places the Angels within roughly $15MM of the $189MM luxury tax threshold, but that doesn't figure to stop the team from pursuing Matt Garza or Masahiro Tanaka (in the event that he is posted).

MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

Solid DH if he hits like he did last year.

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

Hhmm! Intresting

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

Had to replace Trumbo's DH spot somehow and if he gets back to that 29 homerun form from last year, it's a solid deal and much cheaper than Trumbo.

 

[Tapey]

Ibanez really trailed off towards the end, although when he is hot not many can hit better.