Welcome back, Placido Polanco
by Scott Butler 12/10/09
It didn't take Ruben Amaro long to replace Pedro Feliz. The Phillies signed Placido Polanco today to a three-year, $18 million contract, with a mutual option for a fourth year. He played four seasons with the Phils from 2002-2005 and he is back again. Polanco won two Gold Gloves over the past two seasons at second base as has played 322 games at third (but only 9 games since 2004) and should be an adequate fielder.
Polanco hit .285 with 10 home runs and 72 RBIs in 618 at-bats last season with Detroit. He hit .341 in 2007 and .307 in '08. Overall, Polanco is a career .303 hitter.
Polanco is also a terrific contact hitter, only striking out struck once every 14.7 plate appearances in 2009, making him the second hardest batter to strikeout in the Majors. Amaro also liked the fact that he adds versatility at second base to give Chase Utley a rest every now and then.
This looks like a good move for the Phillies and should make them better. He is obviously an upgrade offensively over Pedro Feliz, who hit .259 for the Phillies over the last two season. Also, one of the Phillies problems is that they strike out too much and this will give some stability to the lineup. It is also an improvement over the bad at-bats by Feliz. Pedro swung at the first pitch like his life depended on it and at times it seemed as if he was trying to hit into double plays. Polanco will give professional at-bats and put the Phils in a better position to keep rallies going.
But...he is not Chone Figgins. As much as I would like to applaud the Phillies for this signing, I wanted Chone Figgins. Not that Figgins is an MVP, but he is a younger and faster version of Polanco. Figgins hit .291 last year with 5 HR, 54 RBI, 101 walks, a .395 on-base percentage and 42 stolen bases. At 32 heading into next season, he will be two years younger than Polanco.
However, it appeared that Figgins was looking for a long-term contract. Given the big contracts on our team, that just might not have been possible. Therefore, I think Polanco was the best option out there. Let's see what we get next year.
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