• Want a nominee for the most hotly pursued free agent under the radar? How about Raul Ibanez? He'll turn 37 in June, but we've counted at least a dozen teams that have expressed some degree of interest in him.
That group: Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Royals, Rays, Blue Jays, Rangers (if they can't re-sign Milton Bradley), Angels (if Teixeira, Juan Rivera and Garret Anderson all go elsewhere) and Ibanez's old team, the Mariners. The Mets, Cubs, Cardinals, Braves and Mariners have him at the top of their position-player shopping lists.
He won't be looking for any eight-year deals. And when we asked an official of one team what makes Ibanez so attractive, he gushed: "Character. Proven run producer. In better shape than a lot of 25-year-olds. And he'll play hard every day, every game, every second he has the uniform on."
You don't say...
via LookoutLanding