Raul Ibanez and Yu Darvish

Apologies for the profound tardiness this morning. Just a few quick items:

Of all the realistic, non-Damon choices out there, if the Yankees really want to spend only $2 million or so, I think Raul Ibanez might present the best option.

Why? Because he's left-handed, whereas most of the other Yankees' likely DH options (Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Andruw Jones) hit righty. Yes, Jesus Montero hits righty, too, but the Yankees envisioned him as the sort of offensive monster who would mash from both sides of the plate. Remember, the person the Yankees are actually looking to replace, switch-hitter Jorge Posada, wound up as essentially a lefty hitter last year when he struggled greatly from the right side.

Because his on-the-surface horrendous 2011 may not have been as horrendous as advertised. His isolated power - ISO, as FanGraphs calls it - was still better than average at .174, and his line-drive percentage (18.7 percent) matched against his batting average on balls in play (.268) indicates that he might have been victimized by bad luck.

Yes, he turns 40 in June, but he's a well-known fitness fanatic who already has a relationship with Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long. Which segues over to another point: He's a clubhouse plus, a hard worker who takes both the game and clubhouse relationships seriously. He knows A-Rod, as a matter of fact - A-Rod introduced him to Long - from their days way back with Seattle.

There's much griping and grousing in baseball circles about the posting system, but unless the Japan leagues agree to let their players become free agents sooner - and why would they do that? - I'm not sure it's going to change any time soon.