“The Mets are increasing their efforts to sign free-agent OF Raul Ibanez,” reports Ken Rosenthal on his live blog for FoxSports.com.
According to Rosenthal, members of the team’s front office were spotted meeting with Ibanez’s agents at a restaurant inside the Bellagio hotel on Tuesday afternoon.
Rosenthal believes the Angels, Phillies, Braves and Nationals are among the other teams interested in Ibanez.
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{ 113 comments }
It looks like Omar is on a role!!!!!
He’s running a nice tab at that restaurant at the Bellagio. First Krod then Ibanez and I hope others to come
They should sign my guy Bobby Abreu. I know you don’t like him Matt but he is a 100 rbi guy and can bat in the 2 spot.
we are having dinner with everyone who walks into the bellagio
GO GET HIM, OMAR
I wonder if signing Ibanez will put Church on the trade block for either relief or rotation help. Would Church match up with Tampa Bay for any of their extra starters?
An OF of Church, Beltran, and Ibanez with Murphy, Tatis, and Endy on the bench looks pretty sweet.
Metsfan, I’m with you, I like Abreu as well..but Ibanez is pretty good as well…go get ‘em omar!
Cmon, Omar. Why Ibanez? Bobby Abreu too young for you?
How about Dunn? But, that would be thinking logically.
I read that Ibanez can play some 1b also
A two year deal with Ibanez would be ok.
Church Beltran Ibanez is a nice outfield.
i think church can get us snell and paulino from the bucks
Actually Case, Fred and Jeff are serenading Tex in a gondola outside in the lake in front of Bellagio, so don’t despair just yet….and I hear that they just took Ibanez’s agents to the buffet, dutch treat….
I cant think Omar will sign Ibanez and not deal Church. I would not be surprised if this is the exact plan he has. This would give us wayyyy to many lefties. Especialy considering the probably 5,6,7,8 hitters could all be lefties. I could see a deal for Ibanez, and then turning aroung and sending church to TB for sonnanstine or jackson
I just read that Jeffy took Manny to get his hair done at Jose Herbert’s salon.
or maybe heilman church and slappy to the rangers for their 2b we heard omar wants
I’d love for the Mets to get Dunn…but something tells me that he obviously wouldn’t mesh well in the clubhouse…
TB is looking for a DH. Send them Delgado and sign Dunn to play 1B or better yet Tex.
Very smart move. I would bid agressively on him. I always liked his style of play. Nice job Omar keep it up!
I don’t understand the point of giving up a draft pick for Ibanez when Dunn and Burrel are available.
rustyjr we dont need more offense i can deal with Castillo the cancer but i can not deal with scoring 5 runs just to have your rotation giving up 7 runs. We can use church and heilman for a starter and set our rotation to dominate. Offense is fun but you win with pitching pitching and more pitching
thats a weak comment.
lol kingman were thew dressed like 2 hasidic diamond merchants singing everybody needs somebody ?
Get this deal done. We can’t expect Murphy and Tatis to put up the numbers they did last year.
I highly doubt Ibanez and Church would BOTH be on the team. Maybe Ibanez gives Omar the ability to package Church with Castillo to free up 2B?
Gina, exactly. Burrell, I would avoid just for the sake of never wanting to see him again. But I would take Dunn in a heartbeat before Ibanez, and Abreu as well. Milton Bradley is also someone else to consider in left, and I’d even consider Edmonds or Casey Blake before Ibanez.
I’d still like for us to take a look at orlando hudson, whether we get rid of castillo or not. I believe hudson while playing well on the field, provides leadership ability as well. Something we need in September.
i also sugested trading for snell – pay attention!
Ive given up on the Mets getting Adam Dunn, but Im really curious to see where he lands and see how many people will wish we signed him for his inevitably low cost contract when he is in the top 3 in HRs with a 390 OBP.
Holy crap signing Ibanez would be foolish. You can get Dunn for around the same price and he won’t cost a draft pick! Even Abreu is a better signing!
something like church and a prospect for jackson and a rp
Ibanez is a good hitter and would make a decent fit, but…
Dunn is better. And younger. He does not hate baseball.
Gina is the voice of reason here and amazin avenue
I could also definitely see a Church trade. My guess is that Omar thinks the first half of 2008 was the best he’d ever produce, and wants to use him as trade bait for Tampa Bay for Sonnanstine or Jackson, or even take Heilman out of the Colorado deal and do something along the lines of a Street for Church swap and send Heilman to Tampa.
I can understand not wanting to bring in Bradley because of the fact he’s insane. But I just don’t see why they would think it makes more sense to bring in Ibanez, when he’ll cost a draft pick, than one of the other 3.
Hit the Weights Zeile, don’t abandon hope!
Yea, thats the rumor, church+heilman+niese for sonnanstine+jackson+bartlett
I mean honestly, who here thinks Ibanez is the second best outfielder on the market besides Manny? Because that seems to be what the Mets think.
ne 1 think we could pry lee away from the injuns? he will be a fa soon
his 240 avg isnt 2 appealing
Ooh, I would like Sonnanstine+Jackson+Bartlett. I would give Niese or someone equivalent in that deal. Jackson and Sonnanstine are both good young pitchers.
jaydh were did you see that rumor?
id rather get burrell then dunn.
for me it wud be manny,ibanez,abreu,burrell,bradley,dunn
Also why would the rays trade two young arbitration eligible for two older arbitration eligible players?
guy giving people the heads up on nymets.com forum. he is in vegas and reporting stuff back.
his .390 obp and .500+ slugging percentage is incredibly appealing though. Much more than anything about Ibanez.
lol bradly is as psycho as carl everett but without the charm
What about Gabe Kapler or Juan Rivera? Anyone has any thoughts?
doubt we wud deal niese,and realyl have no interest in barlett.heilman and church for jackson/sonnanstine wud work for me
Why does everyone hate Adam Dunn so much? Can’t anyone get over the strikeouts, to realize he hits for power and gets on base?
And don’t say the defense, because all the other options are just as bad defensively as he is.
I personally would rather have Dunn than Tex. Not because of the talent (Tex is better), but because it fills a clear need and Dunn will come at an extremely better price.
I wouldn’t be against taking a fliers on Rivera or Kapler.
bradley is a psycho but he can produce. ibanez hrs and rbis wud be close to dunn and avg is higher thats why everybody ranks ibanez higher
Keep church and put the 10 million a year you save over over ibanez into something more needed. like SP or Tex.
Sign Rivera as a platoon partner. Him + Church wil likely give the same offensive output of Ibanez, for less money and way better D.
i wonder if the schnider to the sox rumor has any validity to it
Honestly, guys, is it really decided that Murph can’t play 2B this year? Because if he can, that would solve so many problems….
Oh well.
why dont we just sign manny LOL
omar has said repeatedly that they dont consider murphy a 2b so no point in dreaming that.
Right Ibanez’s AVG would be higher… of course his OBP would be much lower, but no one realizes how important OBP is, so what ever.
I think they want a murphy/tatis platoon in one of the corner OFs while trying to move castillo in order to sign hudson.
I wouldn’t be opposed to sending Schnider to the Red Sox. Two problems, though:
1) Who do we get back?
2) How do we replace him? We’re not the Rangers.
Chris, for one Ibanez’s homeruns numbers are only close to Dunn’s if you double then. And two I really hope our front office doesn’t care that much about average. Dunn’s obp and slugging percentage are way better.
There’s a reason Dunn comes at a better price. Because he’s not good enough to get more money and no one wants him. If a guy who hits 45 HR’s can’t get any big time action that kinda puts up a red flag. Too many K’s and a questionable attitude. Two things this bunch does not need. They need guys with guts and all around skill. None of this Dave Kingman garbage which is what you get from Adam Dunn
i second that with manny not even the emporer can stop us it is our destiny!
obp isnt that important when ur gonna be in the 6 hole
But I don’t really want Hudson. He has a Castillo-esque feel to him that is really unappealing (for me, at least) His defense is also worse than advertised (better than Castillo’s, but still…)
cousinirk, are you kidding? I barely even hear Dunn’s name, and he complained less than many guys would have about being on the Reds for all those years. I know if I was a perennial league leader in HR’s, I would want the heck out of there.
“obp isn’t that important in the 6 hole”
Right… except for the simple fact that IT’S IMPORTANT EVERYWHERE!!!
OBP is the most important and valuable skill for a hitter, period.
paulino or veratek as our c
supposedly hudson is a good clubhouse guy
I agree krod09. Hudson would just be a more expensive version of Castillo.
And chris wtf are you talking about? No one cares about obp in the 6th hole?
JUST SAY NO TO TEK.he makes castilloo’s offense look good
on base percentage is more important near top of the lineup
No. OBP is important everywhere. An out in the 6/7/8th hole= an out in the 1/2/3 holy.
and its not like ibanez 353 obp is bad
ibanez whould be a good fit for the mets
“ibanez hrs and rbis wud be close to dunn and avg is higher thats why everybody ranks ibanez higher”
Uhhh I may be with you on the RBIs, but certainly not on HRs….Dunn consistently hits 40 HRs.
Ibanez hit .327 with RISP last season … in 2007 he hit .328 with RISP … in 2006 he hit .337 with RISP….Anyone remember the bases loaded, 0/1 out, 0 run situations we had last year?
I think Dunn’s a great player, and it’s pure speculation for me to say this, but: From what we’ve read about the personality/leadership of the players, it seems like Ibanez is the better choice. He’s also been very consistent over the past 6-7 years. The downside is of course his age…
Personality? The long and short of it is Dunn is better in most facets of his game than Ibanez, and is younger. He will also come at a better price. Logically…
Dunn makes more sense.
Ibanez isn’t a bad player. But he’s going to cost a draft pick, and he is absolutely not worth a pick when there are guys like Dunn and Burrel on the market who won’t cost one.
Not to mention Ibanez doesn’t hit for anywhre near the power Dunn does. Once Delgado is gone, or even this year if Delgado starts off poorly again, where is that power going to come from if we don’t have any other power bats? If we don’t bring in someone like Tex, or Manny, or Dunn we’re going to have to either spend even more money next year, likely on a player who’s less worth it, or go in to 2010 with a major hole in the middle of the line-up.
Basically what it boils down to is Ibanez just doesn’t make any sense with the current make up of the team, especially not for the cost of a draft pick.
Signing Ibanez would be phenomenal. I am a huge fan of his. I definitely understand why certain fans would like to get the attractive names, such as Manny or Tex.
I also don’t think people should say no to Ibanez, without knowing what he would bring to the table. Ibanez has more rbis than Manny, Pujols, or Tex, in the past three years. This is telling. He managed to hit over 120 rbis, while on the lowly Mariners. He is their best player, and from all accounts, their best clubhouse guy. Ibanez also hit 23 hrs last year.
He also has experience with Beltran in the OF. Plus, by having Ibanez, it would instantly give us a better bench. It would be somewhat of a trickle down affect. Instead of having to sign one or two bench players, Murphy and Tatis instantly become 2 of the best bench players in Major league baseball. Furthermore, it will allow Tatis to become a backup to Wright at 3b, instead of having to focus on starting in the OF. You suddenly have options.
Go get him Omar!
How did this happen? I was just outside the guys room trying to keep him away from Omar.
Kingman, were you behind this?
Exactly, Gina. Dunn adds a whole new dimension to the lineup which we haven’t really had outside of Delgado. However, Dunn is more consistent in his production than Delgado, plus he’ll fill the void in left, come cheap, provide backup for the rest of the guys in the order, etc…Ibanez is just more of what we’ve had. Older, veteran guys who have good all around bats but don’t really excel in one thing or another.
who cares about a 2nd round draft pick? especially since we will get a 1st when perez signs elsewhere. theres 1 thing ibanez does that dunn doesnt.put the ball in play and hit lefties.195 for dunn,305 for ibanez
Gina, why isn’t he worth a draft pick?
The man hits over 100 rbis on the Mariners! Dunn should not be considered. While, not losing a draft pick is a nice perk. We also decrease the probability of leaving runners stranded on base. Dunn, while having a high hr rate, he does have a lower BA and yearly rbi total.
krod9: The 30 general managers and various front office personnel of these teams see the same statistics that you do.
Dunn is like a Ryan Howard who hits fewer HRs, doesn’t hit as well with RISP, and by no fault of his own gets 40-60 less plate appearances with RISP. I want the Mets to sign Adam Dunn and I prefer him to Raul Ibanez.
Maybe those GMs don’t value OBP as much as we do, or maybe they’re scared of high strikeout numbers….but it just seems like that’s not it. Maybe they think he won’t fit well in the clubhouse. Just a thought.
Whoa, whoa, whoa…Not even consider Dunn? I think that’s a little ridiculous. All things being equal, Dunn is still 29 to Ibanez being 36 or 37. Do you really want the second coming of Moises Alou?
LOL! Yes Case, I must admit…I have actually been to Vegas dozens of times and have some pull there….I pointed out to Tex that you had uploaded some new shots of strip clubs in Queens to your site, so Tex stayed glued to his laptop in his room, and I pointed Jeff and Fred to the new nickel slots area in the corner at Bellagio, so that left Raul and his walker to have the early bird special at the buffet with Omar and Gangsta Jerry!
And Rusty, that is EXACTLY how Jeff and Fred were dressed lol
ibanez is no alou ibanez plays everyday we knew alou wud miss games
Sadclown, what 30 gms have you heard are more interested in Dunn than Ibanez? We have rumors and speculation nothing else. There were reports that no one wanted Dunn at the deadline too and everyone wanted Ibanez, and who actually got traded at the deadline? The idea that gms don’t value obp as much as we do is a joke. Maybe bad ones don’t.
The second coming of Alou?? Look at Ibanez’s career! What a silly thing to think, let alone write!
I mean more interested in Ibanez than Dunn.
Yes, I don’t think he should even be considered. First of all, Alou has always had a history of injury. While, Ibanez does not. Anyone could have told you that Alou would eventually get hurt. He is a HOFer, if he managed to stay healthy. The Mets signed him with the feeling that he would be worth what he gave them in the games he did play.
I guess we shouldn’t consider Manny since he is older as well (sarcasm). We have to look at a player’s track history. There is a reason that Dunn gets bounced around, and is hardly being mentioned now.
neither was actually traded at the deadline
dunn was a waiver deal after he cleared.
Well, I think it is outlandish to call a GM bad, just because they do not have interest in Dunn.
I toally agree with you Chris02.
Also, I believe that the Mets would have traded for Ibanez had the price not been so high. At least that is I recall from the reports prior to the trade deadline.
Kingman, you’ll pay for this.
And was that a suggestion for the site? That’s not a bad idea. Whatever it takes to get Tex?
Did I say a gm is bad because they weren’t interested in Dunn? Because I’m pretty sure I didn’t. I said only a bad gm wouldn’t care about obp, case in point the Royals gm.
Signing Ibanez or any outfielder would seem to be a precursor to a trade (involving Church) or a ploy to raise the pricetag for another team. The Mets just signed Tatis; they can’t trade him. Beltran has a no-trade coontract.
The Mets are not going to have outfield of Ibanez(or other acquisition) – Beltran – Church with a bench consisting of outfielders Endy Chavez, Fernando Tatis, and Dan Murphy. Three of the five bench players would be outfielders. In addition, Fernando Martinez has a potential outfield slot in 2010, or so. Otherwise there is no point in keeping him.
Without a trade, adding an outfielder would force Murphy to AAA and to 1B (to replace Delgado next year); there would be no room in the Met outfield in 2009 or beyond and 2B or 3B do not seem to be viable options.
I apologize if this was mentioned before, but why not think about trading Castillo for Andruw Jones, and try Jones in LF that way we can get a replacement 2nd baseman? Jones is still a really good fielder and he can’t really be much worse than Castillo at getting on base. Plus maybe Jones will have a comeback year. Seems more likely to happen to him than to Castillo.
The sad part is that Jones is actually not a good fielder any more porque he likes to eat too much. Think Adam Dunn without the Walks and the RBIs…………..and half the HR.
I like Raul Ibanez he looks like 20hr 100rbi guy here in new york, but i think it makes more sense to get Pat Burrel whos younger and doesnt cost us draft pick… fruit for thought…
The more I think about it, the more I feel like the Ibanez move smells like a Delagdo trade. I initially thought it would spell the end for Church, but RF is an important defensive position and Raul, Tatis, Evans, and Murphy would be butchers out there.
I cold be over thinking it though. Murphy in AAA for one year until the roster expands won’t be a bad idea.
And another thing………..we have got to trade Carp to an AL team.
What about Dunn, who’s even YOUNGER, doesn’t cost us a pick, and is better than Burrell.
where is the talk of upgrading our bench..can we get derosa from the cubs?
ibanez would be a nothing move…he is moises II…what a joke. omar, act like the GM of a NYC team and SIGN MANNY!!!
whats the point in signing Ibanez?
sure he would be a great #6 hitter but we have no need for a LH LF. Unless we trade Murphy signing Ibanez makes no sense
Im reading everyone talk about obp, slugging etc but not one person mention the obvious superior defense Ibanez has over Dunn, who looks like Baby Huey out there in the field.
dunn is a BUMM. sign manny!!
This team needs some swagger, sign Milton Bradley and get rid of Church…
Manny being a Met is all I want to hear.
“Manny being a Met is all I want to hear”
Good luck with that, you may as well cut your ears off.
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if we got derosa, he wouldnt be on the bench. u dont put a dozen HR and 70-75 RBI on the bench. u put him at 2nd and put castillo out of his misery. unfortunately its not happening.
“where is the talk of upgrading our bench..can we get derosa from the cubs?”
if we got derosa, he wouldnt be on the bench. u dont put a dozen HR and 70-75 RBI on the bench. u put him at 2nd and put castillo out of his misery. unfortunately its not happening.
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