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Aris Sakellaridis caught up with newest Yankee Raul Ibanez when he paid a visit to Hank's Yanks last week. The word on Ibanez before he signed was that he was a strong character guy. Barely a week into his Yankees tenure, Ibanez is certainly proving it.

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A Perfect Yankee

“I have always been a person that deals with community involvement so it’s great to see that Hank and the Steinbrenner family care so much about the kids of New York.” -- Raul Ibanez

Hank’s Yanks, the youth baseball team sponsored by Yankees Co-Chairman Hank Steinbrenner, wrapped up their final day in Tampa with a visit from the newest Yankee, Raul Ibanez. Signed last week to a one-year deal, Ibanez reported to camp early to familiarize himself to his new surroundings. He will enter his

Raul Ibanez is a New York Yankee. As Jack Curry Tweeted earlier, Ibanez will wear No. 27.

Here's the release:

The New York Yankees today announced they have signed outfielder Raul Ibanez to a one-year Major League contract.

Ibanez, 39, batted .245 (131-for-535) with 65 runs, 31 doubles, 20 home runs and 84 RBI in 144 games as the Philadelphia Phillies’ primary leftfielder in 2011 (131 starts in left field).  During the 2011 season, he reached career milestones in doubles (350th on May 3 vs. Washington), RBI (1,000th on June 5 at Pittsburgh), runs scored (900th on July 8 vs. Atlanta on a “walk-off” home run) and home runs (250th on September 7 vs. Atlanta).

A 16-year Major League veteran, Ibanez has appeared in 1,817 combined games with Seattle (1996-2000, ’04-08),

Now that A.J. Burnett is officially a former Yankee, Buster Olney reports that the team has reached its inevitable agreement with veteran slugger Raul Ibanez, pending a physical. Ibanez is expected to serve as the designated hitter against right-handed pitching with Andruw Jones, in addition to other veteran players including Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, receiving at-bats as DH versus lefties.

Ibanez, 39, hit .245/.289/.419 for the Phillies last season, but slugged .440 with 16 home runs against right-handers and is 7-for-23 with two homers and two doubles in six games at the new Yankee Stadium. In addition to a lefty swing tailor-made for the park, the Yankees' evaluation of Ibanez concluded that he, more so than Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, can provide additional depth in the outfield.

Johnny Damon remains a solid player at age 38, yet he's also unemployed mere days before Spring Training camps open around baseball.

The Rays went in another direction, ending Damon's tenure after one season by signing injury-prone Luke Scott, despite Damon’s .261 average with 16 home runs, 73 RBIs and 19 stolen bases (.255-10-45 versus right-handers) while mentoring a young team that rallied to capture the AL Wild Card on the season’s final night.

The Yankees will address their DH spot after the A.J. Burnett trade rumors are settled. Raul Ibanez reportedly tops their list, but Damon is perplexed why he’s perceived as second best.

“I think it's a perfect fit,” Damon told Jon Heyman by phone while vacationing in Hawaii. “But for some reason you have

The Yankees remain in pursuit of a lefty bat to fill an opening at designated hitter, and Raul Ibanez appears to be ahead of the pack. Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the two sides are in serious discussions and that Ibanez is willing to take less money to play in the Bronx.

Compared to two other targets, former Yankees Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, Ibanez is the oldest at age 39 and off a season in which he slugged 20 home runs with 84 RBIs, but batted just .245 with a .289 on-base percentage. However, Ibanez has a stroke tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, is .286/.351/.488 lifetime against right-handed pitching and would create a nice platoon with Andruw Jones.

Damon offers more speed, had a better OBP (.326) and knows what it takes to play in New York, but batted .261 with 16 homers and

Officially announce the acquisition of Michael Pineda? Check. Formally sign Hiroki Kuroda to complete the overhaul of the starting rotation? Check.

This clears the way for the Yankees to pursue a designated hitter. You’ve heard the names: Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Vladimir Guerrero, Jorge Vazquez, Andruw Jones. The latter two are in the organization and the Yankees haven’t yet shown any appeal in either their old friends or Vlad the Impaler.

According to Kevin Kernan, the Yankees are interested in lefty slugger Raul Ibanez, whose representatives contacted the team shortly after Jesus Montero was traded to Seattle. While Ibanez’s batting average has taken a dive, he’s averaged 24 home runs and 100 RBIs the past six seasons, including 20-84 last year. Kernan also