Phillies Hot On Polanco

by BigGreek24

Thursday December 3, 2009 

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According to reports on MLB.com, the Phillies are one of three teams in hot pursuit of free-agent second baseman Placido Polanco.  The Astros and Red Sox are also pursuing the former Tiger.  The Phils and Astros would like to use Polanco to fill their third base needs while the Red Sox could use Polanco at second base if they were to move current second baseman Dustin Pedroia to shortstop to replace the departed Alex Gonzalez who recently signed a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Based on published reports Wednesday, the Phillies have narrowed their search to Polanco to replace Pedro Feliz and have become aggressive in their pursuit.  They are believed to be the team furthest along in their pursuit of Polanco.   Nothing has been reported as to how close the sides are to completing a deal.

Acquired in the 2002 deal with the Cardinals for Scott Rolen, Polanco played both third and second until he was traded to the Tigers in 2005 for Ugeth Urbina and Ramon Martinez.   After the 2002 season the Phillies signed David Bell to play third because Polanco had told the team that he was more comfortable playing second base.   Polanco has played only second base since 2005 and has won two Gold Gloves at the position and two years ago committed no errors at the position.  Polanco has said he would shift to third base only for a contending team.

If the Phillies can sign the lifetime .303 hitter, they would fill their third base hole and also add a different dimension to their lineup in that Polanco is a contact hitter who doesn’t strike out much, making him the perfect number two hitter in the Phillies lineup.   I’d love to see the Phillies leadoff Victorino and bat Polanco second – Victorino’s career on-base percentage of .347 is higher than Rollins .329, and putting Rollins in the seven spot in the lineup allows him to drive the ball more.   This past season Rollins on-base percentage dipped to .296 while Victorino finished with a .358 on-base percentage.  Neither will make anyone forget about Tim Raines or Rickey Henderson, but you have to go with the best possible solution although I doubt Charlie Manuel would move Rollins out of the leadoff role, so if Polanco lands here either he or Victorino will end up hitting in the seventh spot in the lineup.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few days leading up to the Winter Meetings.

Filed Under Phillies

Comments

3 Responses to “Phillies Hot On Polanco”

  1. Eric Schwartz on December 3rd, 2009 10:21 am

    Polanco would be a great addition to the lineup as a true No. 2 hitter that would take pitches and still be able to hit with two strikes. I do question his ability to play third base at this point in his career though.

  2. Doug on December 3rd, 2009 1:08 pm

    Not sure how much truth there is to it but I heard on the radio Polanco does not really want to play 3rd.

  3. BigGreek24 on December 3rd, 2009 6:12 pm

    UPDATE: Polanco signed today for 3 years, $18 million and will move over to third base.

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