True they might not have known that he’d sign for that little in the end, but even when they signed Ibanez they could have had Burrell for the same amount if not less. They also wouldn’t have had to just throw away a 1st round draft pick. As well as the fact that they could have done with the RHH given their Lefty dominated lineup.

The market tumbling did make a few moves look bad in retrospect, but the Ibanez move looked bizarre at the time.

I don’t know what Burrell was asking for, but I don’t think it could have been much more than what Ibanez got. If that’s the case, then the Phillies made a mistake by not signing Burrell. But even if that’s not the case, look at it this way:

There were three very similar players to Ibanez on the market – Pat Burrell, Adam Dunn, and Bobby Abreu. All are good hitting, terrible fielding corner OF. Dunn is a slightly better hitter than Ibanez, and is 7 years younger. Burrell is a slightly better hitter than Ibanez, and is 4 years younger. Abreu is pretty much identical to Ibanez, and is 2 years younger. Here’s what they got:

Raul Ibanez: 3 years, $10.5M per year.
Adam Dunn: 2 years, $10M per year.
Pat Burrell 2 years, $8M per year.
Bobby Abreu: 1 year, $5M per year.

The Phillies took the player who is likely to be the least productive of the four, and gave him more years and more money per year than any of the other three. Obviously the Phillies didn’t see the market tumbling the way it eventually did, and I don’t know if it’s fair to blame them for that or not, but at the end of the day, the Ibanez signing looks pretty terrible.

Sorry stepping out like that Mark. GaintsFan & Cookyman runs it down nicely.
I
 also have seen a lot of Ibanez play (I live in the North West now) and he really should not take the field in a full sized outfield. Unless his bat is on fire he gives back more than his stick creates in my opinion. He is a fun player to watch hit (though keep in mind Safe Co is to LHB what Mays Field can be to RHB) but if I get to chose between him Burrell or Dunn for equal costs he is definitely the 3rd choice in my book.

Then we add in the whole age thing. Presuming Ibanez doesn’t flame out just how likely is he to be signed by another club at the contracts end? If he has earned being a compensated free agent it seems very unlikely. The odds are better that Burrell or Dunn could post good enough number to be compensated and still get signed by another team after their current contracts.

Now watch Ibanez posts an MVP season just because I said this. But it is truly how I view things.