I joked last week that the Phillies should bring back Raul Ibanez to platoon in left field. The more I've thought about it, he might be the Phillies best option.

Aside from forfeiting their first round draft pick to sign Nick Swisher, the rumors are that the Phillies' external options for a corner outfielder are signing Cody Ross to a multi-year deal or trading for Alfonso Soriano. It's probably safe to assume that kind of money or prospects that would be invested in either Ross or Soriano would guarantee either player a starting job against both left and right handed pitchers. But what if the Phillies could approximate Ross or Soriano's production for a fraction of the cost?

Here are 2012 and career wRC+ for Ross and Soriano:

Here are the same numbers for John Mayberry against left-handed pitchers:

So if the Phillies can find a cheap outfielder who can hit right-handed pitching about 15% better than average, they can equal or surpass Ross or Soriano's production without the expensive commitment.

Here are is the same chart for the remaining free agent left-handed outfielders against RHP:

and for reference, Laynce Nix and Nate Schierholtz:

So Schierholtz would have been an ok option. If only the Phillies would have had a way to get him...

But since that ship has sailed, the best remaining options to upgrade from Nix are Sizemore and Ibanez. Sizemore, however, will be out until at least mid-season recovering from microfracture knee surgery.

That leaves Raul, and he's not a bad option. The main reason is the cost; a Mayberry/Ibanez platoon could cost less than $2 million, would be for only one year, and wouldn't cost any prospects. And Ibanez did play 545 innings in left field for the Yankees in 2012, roughly a third of the total innings, with a UZR/150 of 11.8. While the positive fielding number is almost certainly a fluke, it at least suggests that the -21.8 UZR/150 Raul put up with the Phillies in 2011 was also somewhat fluky when compared to his career number that is just slightly negative.

The other reason for signing Raul is that a Raulberry platoon wouldn't necessarily block Darin Ruf. If Ruf struggles in spring training, he can be sent to Lehigh Valley for more work. If he hits well in March and shows himself to be a competent outfielder, he can replace Mayberry as the right-handed half of the platoon to start the season and can take over more and more at-bats against right-handed pitching as the year goes on.

So bringing back Raul on a one year contract has the advantage of potentially giving the Phillies production equal to what they could get with a bigger free agent or trade acquisition, it saves their first round draft pick, and it gives them the flexibility to make adjustments during the season if it doesn't work.