As we all know by now, the Phillies signed Placido Polanco to be their new 3rd baseman yesterday. The former Phillie comes back after being traded away in June of 2005 to make room for Chase Utley.
The contract seems kind of high to me, at 3 years and $18 million dollars, but Polanco is a multiple Gold Glove winner, albeit at 2nd base, not 3rd. He has played 3rd base in the past, even some during his first Phillies tenure, but hasn’t played there regularly for a while.
Once Detroit passed on offering Polanco arbitration, he jumped to the top of the Phillies’ list. Since they won’t have to give up their first round pick with this signing, they keep the pick around in case they want to sign a Type A free agent pitcher or even keep the pick for themselves.
There seems to be a mixed reaction to this signing. I think he will be a solid 3rd baseman, not as good defensively as Feliz was, but his offensive numbers will make up for that. This infield of Howard, Utley, Rollins, & Polanco could be the best infield in the major leagues.
There were a lot of responses to this, both in our Twitter feed and on our Facebook page. I’ve pulled some of them and put them here.
Frank Taney: “Great move in my opinion; a real upgrade.”
Matt Tate: “Bad move – could of done much better.” (They couldn’t have done much better without giving up a lot more $$ and/or draft picks -KK)
Kevin McGuire, resident CFB expert: “I think it is a good move, for 2010. Down the line is another question. Good glove and bat in my eye.” (I agree 100% -KK)
Kevin Homer: “Polanco is fine. Figgins would have been fun but this is still a slight upgrade and keeps money free for the real prob (pitching)”
Brendan C. Mooney: “not sure , obviously at 2nd he’s one of best fielders in biz, thoughts on batting him 2, shane 1 and jimmy down the order?” (Not going to happen. J-Roll would never give up the leadoff spot. I see Vic dropping down -KK)
Laura Shunta: “I think it’s horrible. Shoulda gone for Beltre. Not entirely sure why we had to give up Feliz in the 1st place. Brilliant defense!”
Dale Hein: “Why would he come back here to play third, when he left he only wanted to play second. I say Glaus or Figgins would be a better fit.” (Simple: He wants to win. -KK)
Ryan Gillen: “I’d rather see Chone or DeRosa at third personally, I believe they’re better options”
Obviously, there is a mixed reaction to this signing. He’s going to cost more than Felix would have, so he’s got to show an improvement. Only 71 days until we start to find out.
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