Yankees News: Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez To Sign Deals With New York, According To Report

Feb 18 8:39a by Jay King

Once the A.J. Burnett deal is finalized by the league office, the New York Yankees have agreements to sign Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports.

The Yankees have been looking to add a left-handed designated hitter all offseason, even setting the groundwork for a trade that would have sent Burnett to Anaheim in exchange for Bobby Abreu. But Burnett waived the deal and the Yankees returned their focus to the relatively cheap fill-ins left in the free agent market.

Ibanez, 39, hit .245 with 20 home runs and 84 RBI with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2011. The lefty has knocked in at least 80 runs in nine of the past 10 seasons and hit at least 16 home runs every year since 2002, though his on-base percentage (.289) and slugging percentage (.419) both saw a precipitous drop in the past year.

Chavez, 34, returns to the Yankees after batting .263 with two homers and 26 RBI in 160 at-bats during 2011.

It's likely that Ibanez will be used as New York's primary DH against right-handed pitching, with Andruw Jones earning most of the starts against southpaws.

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