Orangeliners » Raul Ibañez

All-star teams announced: Phillies 3 -Mets 4 (players)

Speener — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:25:55 +0000

The all-star team was announced yesterday and for those that are keeping count, the Phils have 3 players on the team to the Mets’ 4. The fans have a chance to add an additional player in the Final vote (more on that in a second). As expected Ryan Howard was selected to join the team by Charlie Manuel to join Raul Ibañez and Chase Utley. Howard’s numbers aren’t as great as they’ll be, but one of the problems with the All-star game being played in the summer is that players that put up numbers when it counts get screwed. Based on what Howard does year after year, he deserves to be there.

I think Shane Victorino will end up replacing Carlos Beltran anyway, but why not make the point moot? You have a chance to put him in yourself by voting in the Final Vote. Shane versus 4 other high profile snubs: Christian Guzman of the Nationals, Matt Kemp of the Dodgers, Mark Reynolds of the Diamondbacks, and Pablo Sandoval of the Giants. All have great cases, but I think Shane’s value goes beyond the numbers he puts up. When the team is going well, he’s in the middle of everything; he’s turned himself into the consummate pain in the ass player; that’s a good thing. Growing up, the best example of those types of players were Pete Rose and Lenny Dykstra (in his pre-Phillie/steroid days especially). If you get a chance you should ask C.C. Sabathia what he thinks.

Anytime I hear Shane’s name in trade rumors, I cringe; there’s a reason why so many teams want him. Shane deserves to go to St. Louis just as much as Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, or Raul Ibañez – so put him there.

The Phillies lose another to the DL

Speener — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:36:03 +0000

To quote Luke Wilson from Anchorman, “this is getting re-goddamn-diculous.”

After losing Brett Myers, Brad Lidge, Scott Eyre (running in from the bullpen), and Raul Ibañez, now they will be losing Clay Condrey to the 15 day disabled list. I should have written this a week ago, but now my point is even stronger; it’s time for the Phillies to make a trade. No offense to Sergio Escalona, who will replace Condrey, but I have little confidence if you’re behind Jack Taschner on the depth chart. The rotation that Charlie Manuel is running out there is not a World Series rotation at this point. Far from it. Prior to losing Myers, the distance between Cole Hamels starts was great – now it’s insurmountable.

The ripple effect of having sub-par starting pitching is killing our bullpen. And if we’re going to lean heavily on the bullpen, as we can see, it will buckle. I’m not calling on Ruben Amaro Jr. to make a trade for trades sake; but it is obvious that this team needs bolstering. The longer we wait, the harder it gets. For instance, now that Daisuke Matsuzaka is on the DL in Boston, you can count Brad Penny off the list of available pitchers. Jake Peavy is on the DL and so is Erik Bedard.

If we wait until the trade deadline we may end up hoping to bring Adam Eaton back.

Vote for Raul! The 2009 All-Star voting results

Speener — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:33:54 +0000

The first pass of the All-Star results came through and Raul Ibañez is 6th in the National League. He’s behind Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun (663,164), Chicago’s Alfonso Soriano (545,354), New York’s Carlos Beltran (476,843), Los Angeles’ Manny Ramirez (442,763) and Milwaukee’s Mike Cameron (432,034).

How does Milwaukee have two players and one of them Cameron? Soriano is batting under .260 and Manny… well we know about Manny (although my wife refuses to toss her Manny t-shirt).

Chase Utley is leading NL second basemen while Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins are third in their respective categories.

Time to vote for Phillies. You can vote your conscience and still vote for Shane Victorino in addition Ibañez, Utley, and Howard.

Time to vote often.

VOTE NOW: Cast your All-Star ballot