![\"polanco1\"](\"http:\/\/lesterslegends.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/placido-polanco.jpg\")
Placido Polanco is coming back to Philadelphia.\u00a0 Much like last off-season, Ruben Amaro was faced with one spot to fill in his everyday line-up, and he acted quickly in handing a three-year deal to a solid veteran.\u00a0 Some questions and answers about the signing:<\/p>\n
Was Polanco the right choice for the third-base job?<\/strong><\/p>\n Obviously, this is a fairly complicated question that is dependent on what the other options were, and\u00a0how much money it would take to sign them.\u00a0 Mark Derosa and Adrian Beltre are both really good players that can do certain things that Polanco cannot do, but Polanco also has his advantages over those guys.\u00a0 All in all, you can’t fault Amaro for targeting Polanco and for trusting that he will be a nice addition to this team.\u00a0<\/p>\n It’s true that he’s 34 and that his numbers have declined each of the last two years, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.\u00a0\u00a0Statistics will\u00a0fluctuate in baseball.\u00a0 His ’09 numbers are better than his ’06 numbers, and his ’07 season was an anomaly on the positive side (.341 BA).\u00a0 I think a fair prediction for next season would be something like .300 with 12 homers, which would be similar power numbers to Pedro Feliz, with a roughly 40 point improvement in average.\u00a0 And another added benefit is that Polanco can play second-base if Utley needs a rest or gets hurt, with Greg Dobbs manning third.<\/p>\n Did they overpay for him?<\/strong><\/p>\n Very possibly.\u00a0 At first glance, $6 million a year for Polanco sounds fair, but considering his age, would have they been better off just making it a two year deal?\u00a0 When Amaro signed Ibanez early in free agency last year, it later became clear that he wouldn’t have gotten the same amount of money had he signed a month or two later.\u00a0 That could end up being the case with Polanco as well, but if Polanco produces the way Ibanez did, nobody will really care.\u00a0 But at some point a youth movement will be needed, as they can’t go on forever handing out long-term deals to players in their mid- to late-30’s.<\/p>\n What does the choice of Polanco suggest about the team’s priorities?<\/strong><\/p>\n By choosing Polanco over the other choices on the free-agent market, the Phillie front office basically told us two things.\u00a0 The second thing this signing tells us is that the front-office is continuing to put a premium on team chemistry and character.\u00a0 We heard throughout ’09 that one of the reasons they\u00a0signed Ibanez was because he was\u00a0seen as such a good teammate.\u00a0 A lot of times those statements are just\u00a0lip service, but early on in this off-season they’ve let Brett Myers walk, and brought in Brian Schnieder and Polanco, two guys that are\u00a0also seen as great teammates.\u00a0 Polanco was a semi-fan favorite in his first stint here, and he probably will be again.\u00a0 These things are always speculation\u00a0by someone like me, but “by all accounts”, Polanco is another\u00a0great guy, a gamer, and someone\u00a0that is\u00a0well-liked,\u00a0and well-respected, by everyone that plays with\u00a0him.\u00a0\u00a0He’s someone\u00a0you enjoy rooting for, and that’s definitely a big part of the reason why I like this signing.<\/p>\n Where will he\u00a0bat in the order?<\/strong><\/p>\n It seems like\u00a0the early statements from Amaro are that Polanco will bat 2nd, with Shane Victorino “moving further down the order”, presumably to 7th.\u00a0 I guess that will work.\u00a0\u00a0Obviously, if Victorino is your 7-hitter, you probably have a pretty awesome lineup.\u00a0 But, the team will have to consider having Victorino leadoff and moving\u00a0Jimmy Rollins down, maybe to 7th.\u00a0 I do think that Polanco should hit 2nd because, as I said earlier, his biggest strength is his situational hitting, and he’s basically a prototypical 2-hitter.\u00a0 Maybe they have to start the season with Rollins leading off, but\u00a0if he can’t get his OBP at least into the .325-.330 range, it’s time to move him out of that spot.\u00a0 In the end, having these three top-of-the-order hitters is a pretty\u00a0good problem to have, and it\u00a0will probably work itself out once the season gets going.<\/p>\n All in all, I’m glad to have Placido Polanco back, not only for his skills, but also for his awesome name, and his weird-shaped head.\u00a0 A job well-done by Ruben Amaro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Placido Polanco is coming back to Philadelphia.\u00a0 Much like last off-season, Ruben Amaro was faced with one spot to fill in his everyday line-up, and he acted quickly in handing a three-year deal to a solid veteran.\u00a0 Some questions and … Continue reading ![\"polanco2\"](\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_YntY1kyKo4o\/Ss9UUdt2tBI\/AAAAAAAAJSU\/R2W78ltPRP0\/s320\/placido+polanco.jpg\")
One, they want to improve their situational hitting.\u00a0 Polanco is basically the poster boy for “bat control.”\u00a0 He’s second in the big leagues over the past five years in fewest strikeouts per at bat.\u00a0 He can lay down a bunt, and he will consistently hit the other way, especially with a\u00a0runner on first base.\u00a0 The Phillies obviously feel like they have enough strikeout-prone power hitters in their lineup, and they probably see Polanco as someone that can\u00a0add some consistency and\u00a0help create some offense on the days when the ball isn’t flying out of the park.<\/p>\n