Free-agent outfielder Raul Ibanez has reached preliminary agreement with the Phillies on a three-year, $30 million contract, according to major-league sources.
The deal, pending a physical, was reached early Friday morning at the winter meetings in Las Vegas. Phillies executives and Ibanez's agents stayed an extra day to complete the contract.
The Mets, Cubs, Nationals and Angels also were interested in Ibanez, who batted .293 with 23 homers and 110 RBIs last season for the Mariners while playing his home games at pitcher-friendly Safeco Field.
The Phillies' preference was for a right-handed hitter to go with their two left-handed sluggers, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Ibanez, 36, is a left-handed hitter, but actually hit left-handers better than righties last season.
His free-agent value seemed to diminish after his previous team, the Mariners, offered him salary arbitration, thus forcing any team that signed him to forfeit a first-round draft pick.
Ibanez's age also figured to be an obstacle in the open market; few players in their late 30s receive three-year contracts. However, Ibanez has averaged 26 homers and 113 RBIs the past three seasons, and teams value his professionalism and character.
The Washington Nationals executives had vacated the Bellagio hotel well before noon Thursday, leaving a quiet week of results behind and plenty of work ahead for the rest of the offseason. But the team may have fared quite well depending on their success in posturing and positioning for the weeks to come.
The Nationals made plenty of noise with an offer to free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira believed to be at least seven years and $150 million and reported by some outlets to be $160 million.
If nothing else, the offer signaled the Nationals are serious about winning in the near future, and while the Red Sox, Orioles and possibly the Angels offer strict competition for the Severna Park, Md., native, Washington could wind up with the prize of this year's free agent market.
"We met with just about every club and many of the agents throughout Baseball," assistant general manager Mike Rizzo said. "We had a lot of proposals to a lot of clubs, and we're waiting for the fruit to bear."
The only acquisitions the Nationals made during the winter meetings were their two picks in the Rule 5 draft on Thursday morning. They took Cincinnati minor league pitcher Terrell Young with the first pick in the draft and later selected outfielder Ricardo Nanita from the White Sox minor league system in the Class AAA phase.
Rizzo said Young throws three pitches, including a fastball that ranges from 93 mph to 96 mph. The Nationals would have to keep him on their major league roster all of next season or work out a trade with the Reds to retain him. But given the number of unproven relievers in Washington's bullpen, it's feasible Young could find a home there.
