RealGM

Revised Zone Rating, another advanced metric from “The Fielding Bible” author John Dewan, has Ibanez making 40 of the 43 plays in his “zone” – the nebulous area Dewan’s system believes a left fielder should cover. That figure ranks seventh among corner outfielders, though Ibanez’s nine plays out of his zone places him further down the list.

When the Phillies signed Ibanez, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said they considered Ibanez an average defender, perhaps a tick below average. Never did they bother with statistics that claimed Ibanez among the game’s worst fielders.

“I do not buy numbers defensively. At all,” Amaro said. “I look at fielding percentage. But that other business? I don’t buy it a lick. I think defense is subjective. You know, if you watch a guy, whether he has range or not. You can’t study a guy’s routes to the ball by the numbers. It doesn’t happen.

“We subscribe to what our guys see with their eyes, especially when it comes to defense.”

Good stuff

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns

Translation: we know that Ibanez is a pretty poor fielder. We needed to replace Burrell pretty badly, though, and the guy is murdering baseballs, so we don't care that he has less range in left field than Paris Hilton has as an actress.

1) Amaro's an idiot if he seriously ever considered Ibanez anywhere near "average" defensively.

2) Ibanez's hot start is exactly the type of thing that gets lousy baseball people undeserved praise, so let's hope Raul's useless the rest of the season. Sorry, Phillies fans, it's for the greater good.