Comments on: UPDATE: Polanco Deal Done

By: Nam Lohse

Nam Lohse — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 06:20:14 +0000

I am grateful to you for this wonderful content. You truly did make my day :

By: Brian of CO

Brian of CO — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:38:10 +0000

How can anyone say Polanco is a “minor downgrade defensively.”? I agree he has the potential to be an upgrade offensively. Slightly higher batting average, but to me thats not why is in an upgrade, the lack of strikeouts is an upgrade. We are talking Polanco with an average of about 40 strikeouts a year or Feliz with an average of closer to 60 or 70. Last season Polanco has 46 compared to Feliz with 68. If hes not striking out, he is at least making contact. I like Feliz and all, but if he is making contact, he has a better chance of moving runners up, or hitting them in. As for Defense, I dont think there is a way to say he is a downgrade beyond pure lack evidence of it. Looking at range and FPCT, advantage goes to Polanco, but the question is, will he be close to as good at 3b as he was at 2nd base? At 2nd base his FPCT over his career is close to .990, where Pedro at 3rd is closer to .970. The problem with that is they are two different positions. I dont think anyone can say whether he is a downgrade or upgrade defensively. Also offensively, I would say he might have an advantage this year moving from the AL to the NL. I also dont think talking about “Raul Ibanez’ deal isn’t looking so hot after his second-half swoon” is a fair assessment seeing how his “swoon” just so happen to co-inside his injury (which I believe he also had surgery for after the season). To me, his “swoon” had more to do with the injury. I am concerned about how he comes back from the surgey and injury in 2010 though! I will wait and see how Polanco works out, before I pass a full judgement on the deal. I will say I would rather see a definative upgrade offensively and defensively then a question mark of an upgrade. I at least dont really see a downgrade though honestly. If they sign another for 3rd, this could work out wonderfully to be able to give Utley some rest at 2nd, and not be scared of what we will see. I know the Beard had the unassisted triple play, but beyond that how has he been? If there is another than can play 3rd effectively and be able to move Polanco to 2nd to give Utley some rest, with a pretty effective “fill-in” in his post, that would be nice also.

By: psujoe

psujoe — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:54:15 +0000

We still have to see the Figgins contract and how it’s structured. In reality the Polanco contract is 3/18 or 4/22.5. It depends on year 4.

By: Don M

Don M — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:01:53 +0000

It really should be a simple task for a professional baseball player to make a strong, accurate throw … so unless I’m missing something, Polanco should be fine there

…
the one area we’ll see some problems is the short-hop balls hit directly at him.. at 2nd base, you have more time to adjust to the ball, but at 3rd, you don’t have that time

Polanco has good hands though, and I think he’ll be fine

…
I understand the worry about Polanco shifting to 3rd.. but I would have more concern about paying BELTRE way too much money, and the fact that he’s not a better hitter than Polanco

Beltre and Figgins are good players.. but neither of them deserves more than $7, 8 M per season

I want to see where Tejada ends up.. he was the guy I wanted most.. but I’m comfortable with the Phillies’ decision to get Polanco, and i think he’ll really help the team remain steady as the season goes along

By: The Original Chuck P

The Original Chuck P — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:00:01 +0000

I’m not that concerned with adding him to the lineup but I think that you’re upsetting the balance between run scorers and run producers… Feliz had 85 RBI this season in that spot; that’s a lot of production from your 7 hole. I don’t know how much more production you can milk out of this lineup.

By: Jesus

Jesus — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:57:45 +0000

I have always liked Polanco. He was a good team player and never seemed to care about personal stats and would always provide “professional” at bats. With that being said Polanco hits into quite a bit of double plays. For his career him and Feliz have hit into the same pct of DP’s, 14% (MLB Avg 11%). That’s why I think a contact hitter with little speed, and not a lot of power getting up in age isn’t exactly a great fit here. Beltre has an 11% career avg for DP’s. I just think for 2mill more a year Beltre would have been a much better fit here. I will cheer my heart out for Polanco, but just would have rather seen Beltre in the pinstripes. I think he would have generated more runs and saved more runs than PP.

By: Manny

Manny — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:54:59 +0000

“all he needs to really adjust to is making the long throw accurately and crisply.”

You make it sound like such a simple task…

—
Anyway, I’m sure the front office went over all this and how Polanco at 3rd would play out, and they probably made the right call. But, as a fan, I simply don’t have that blind confidence that others here have in that he won’t become a defensive liability. It’s just a question mark that I’ll have all the way through Spring Training… when we finally see what’s he’s able to do.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:13:51 +0000

Defensively, hell probably he just fine. Not super great, but he’ll do his job. Hes a gold glove second baseman…so hes agile enough to get to the balls hit at him at 3rd. However, all he needs to really adjust to is making the long throw accurately and crisply.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:11:24 +0000

I also dont get why people dont like the Polanco move. I am REALLY excited about their lineup now that he is here. He is a much better all around player than what they had, and hes a better option than paying tons of money for guys like Beltre or Figgins or DeRosa. That was a smart, shrewd move by RAJ.

Im in agreement about Blanton. What younger, cheaper guys are around that can do that same thing that he does? Not many…but if they wanna do that, then thats ok with me…

By: Don M

Don M — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:03:50 +0000

At what point will people start having faith in our front-office and decision makers??

Polanco is a very good defensive player.. and as middle infielders are aging, it is a common thing for them to shift to to a corner-spot .. in this case, Polanco actually has some experience in the corner already.

Will he win the Gold Glove at 3b.. probably not

But overall, we’ll be better with Polanco batting 2nd, playing 3rd

then we were with Feliz batting 7th, playing 3rd

By: Manny

Manny — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:57:47 +0000

I don’t think that too many of us are really concerned about Polanco in our lineup. He’ll be great there because he’s a good hitter and a better overall offensive player than Feliz.

Our MAIN concern is defense –whether he’ll be able to play 3rd base. It’s been YEARS since he’s played that position regularly… and he’s 34 now… does a gold glove in 2nd base translate into a good 3rd baseman? I certainly hope so, but I wonder what is that led us to think that he can play good defense at the hot corner for THREE years. That is a huge risk.

By: Don M

Don M — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:53:31 +0000

Scoring more runs.. or being the best team in the National League is great.. but it doesn’t make you better than teams in the American League

Feliz was coming off back pain, then back surgery.. and definitely lost a step, .. and he was already slow with not a ton of range

Polanco is a better hitter, a better all-around player.. and for the same amount of money.. he gives you a better chance to win games

…
I don’t think they would worry about being TOO Left-handed.. since Lee will most likely be gone after next season.. and you would be adding Kyle Drabek, a RHP

I don’t know what the Phillies would really do with Blanton in any trade scenario.. but we all know that they like to have definite payroll projections, etc.. since Blanton becomes a Free Agent after next season, they might want to see what they can get for him. If you can find a younger guy to keep under team-control for two years .. it gives you $5+ M to play with for another player

BUT.. I don’t see them trading Blanton because he gives you a chance to win when he’s on the mound

By: Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:49:38 +0000

Polanco is a 2-hole hitter. thats jsut what he is. Thats why hell be hitting there. Victorino does better when he hits lower in the lineup anyway because he will keep rallies going.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:42:23 +0000

Id take Duke or Maholm, but theyre both left-handed. That would depend on the Pirates asking price.

But if theyre movign Blantong you need to replace those innings, presumably theyd try to upgrade over that….?

then sign a cheapo 5th starter because they dont have one thats a real option right now…

By: The Original Chuck P

The Original Chuck P — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:33:12 +0000

@George 12:32…

First – if you can convince yourself that Polanco can play 3B at a high level because of what he did in 2002 with the Cardinals, go ahead… I’m not so sure (that was 7 years ago… you want to talk about Feliz’ aging defense but disregard the fact that Polanco is 34 years old). I do think that market had a lot to do with that trade but there was talk that Polanco preferred to play 2B.

Second – you’ll have to explain to me why we need to juggle the lineup because last I checked we scored more runs than any other team in the NL. Not sure how much more production you’re going to squeeze out of that lineup. I will say one thing… guys that can produce runs are more important than guys that can get on base.

Third – the jury is out on whether they overpaid (given the market conditions and who’s out there bidding on third basemen). Figgins is reportedly getting 4 years/$36 million… that’s a lot less than the $50 million projections that were being thrown out there. I can’t imagine Beltre getting more than that. If he slots in at 4 years/$28 million, I would say that Polly for 3/$18 is bad. That’s my opinion. Regardless, Polanco is not the cheapest option out there… that would be the guy that helped us get there in each of the past two seasons (and truth be told, he would have been my first choice).

By: Don M

Don M — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:12:09 +0000

$9 for Figgins, for 4 years.. is way too much..

Good for him that he got a nice contract.. sucks for Seattle though

We already have two speedy slap-hitters in our lineup.. what we needed was a consistent, small-ball, hard-to-strikeout, Right-handed hitting veteran

and we got him.. Our lineup is MUCH better right now than it was with Feliz

Beltre would have given us fits because he’s just as streaky as the rest of our team.. Polanco is a steady bat, and we’ll all be glad he’s hitting #2 once the season rolls around

…

Blanton was said to be on the trade market like a month ago.. Jayson Stark mentioned that when he was on ESPN 950, with Mike Missanelli, Larry Bowa, and Ricky Botalico

They aren’t actively trying to get rid of him.. but they have made it known that he is not “off limits”

Pirates said that Zach Duke and Paul Maholm are available.. I wouldn’t mind having Duke in our rotation… cheap, under team control for 2 more years

By: Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:59:32 +0000

What I dont get is, will Eyre really cost you 4M? Even if he costs 3, Id rather have him…I dont get that…

By: Manny

Manny — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:48:24 +0000

Dodgers are shopping Sherrill…. with Romero probably missing a month due to surgery, Lidge still a question mark, and Eyre still not on the team, I think it would make a lot of sense to add a strong left arm to the pen. Salary will be approx. 4 million.

If they plan to resign Eyre –which I still don’t understand why we haven’t– then nevermind. He has been amazing with the Phillies in 08 and 09.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:28:07 +0000

It looks like the Phillies will get Brandon Lyon – Im ok with that, solid move depending on price.

I read about Blanton. The only way I could see them moving him is if they have something else up their sleeve. Why move youre only RH starter – it cant be to give Kendrick and Moyer a shot – just FORGET about those two names, sick of hearing about those two as realistic rotation options. Theyre not. Not if you want to do well at least.

They would need to go out and sign/trade for TWO starting pitchers if they got rid of Blanton. So, I can only see it if they get another starter back in the deal or something….

By: jrollpatrol08

jrollpatrol08 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:17:45 +0000

polanco’s only WORLD SERIES he went 0 for 17, so figgins’ postseason woes i think are being overexaggerated. figgins now is an overall better player because he is younger and actually plays the position of 3rd base. as far as value, i think the mariners got a way better deal on figgins than we did with polanco. but i guess if you look at each team’s financial planning/outlook, the M’s needed to spend some cash on a big impact position player like figgins. with the phils other needs like bullpen/starting pitching depth, it may have been a good idea to spend 18 vs. 36 mil.

i really dont like the polanco deal. but its been afew days and im trying to justify it, trying to find some positives out of this peculiar investment.