Todd Zolecki, among others, is reporting that the Phils may be interested in Raul Ibanez as a possible replacement for Pat Burrell should the Phillies not be able to come to terms with their veteran left fielder.

Color me unimpressed. At least as it relates to replacing Burrell. It’s not that Ibanez isn’t a good player, but I don’t like the idea of adding another LH bat into a line up that is already loaded with them. I realize that he batted well against lefties last year (.305 vs. LH, .288 vs. RH), but that was the exception, and not the rule, as it relates to his career stats (.268 vs. LH vs. .293 vs. RH).

On the plus side for Ibanez, he hits for average more than Burrell (career .286 vs. Burrell’s pedestrian .257), but that doesn’t translate to his OPS, which is a career .818 vs. Burrell’s .852. Ibanez is a better fielder, but Burrell is 4 years younger than Ibanez.

If Ibanez wants a 3-4 year deal, what would be the justification for giving it to him instead of giving 3 years to Burrell? Ibanez would be 40 when his contract expired vs Burrell, who would be 35 and still younger than Burrell is today. Is his superior batting average and better defense enough to outweigh the age difference plus the lefthanded vs. righthanded argument?

At this point, I haven’t heard a better option for 2009 than Pat Burrell returning to patrol left field. We pretty much know exactly what we’re going to get with him. Roughly 100 RBI, stretches of torrid hitting followed by stretches of complete confusion at the plate, as well as average fielding.

If Burrell comes back, all indications are that it will be on the Phillies terms. There are reports out there that Burrell is drawing little interest, increasing the likelihood that he’ll be back in left next year.