3
2009
Phillies Get Their Man; NL Champs Sign Placido Polanco
An article by Hojo's Mojo
The reigning National League champions are attacking this off season much in the same way they did last year after they become World Series champs.
According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, the Philadelphia Phillies have signed Placido Polanco to a reported 3-year deal worth $18 million dollars.
The Phillies announced Placido Polanco has signed a three-year, $18 million contract. The contract also includes a fourth-year mutual option for 2013.
Polanco is expected to meet with reporters later today.
It looks like the Phillies have become the NL version of the Yankees who always seem to get any player they target.
Last season their goal was to upgrade from Pat Burrell and they went all out for Raul Ibanez and got their man who eventually became the team’s MVP for the first half of the season.
When they made the decision to get a top tier pitcher at the trade deadline, they targeted Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Lee went on to become the most dominant pitcher in the NL for the last two months of the season.
Polanco’s new deal averages out to $6 million dollars annually which is what the Mets pay Luis Castillo. However, the Phillies now added a dynamic top of the order hitter who will mot likely bat second in the leagues best offensive lineup.
No word if the Mets were even interested in Polanco, but most likely they won’t do anything until they rid themselves of Castillo first. So far though, interest in Castillo has been tepid at best, and most likely he’ll be the Mets Opening Day second baseman.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationals | 26 | 18 | .591 | - |
| Braves | 26 | 20 | .565 | 1.0 |
| Mets | 24 | 21 | .533 | 2.5 |
| Marlins | 24 | 21 | .533 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 23 | 23 | .500 | 4.0 |
Last updated: 05/25/2012
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Write Your Own Mets Post
Exclamation points?
Really?
Happy now? I’m actually hoping to get my internship at the NY Post approved in January. I figured the exclamation point would help.
Gag me.
HOJO, I THOUGH FIGGINS WAS SUPPOSEDLY THEIR MAIN TARGET IN LETTING FELIZ GO? BTW, WORD IS THEY’RE DONE POSITIONALLY & THE REMAINDER OF THEIR EXPENDITURES TO BE DEDICATED TO BPO AFTER MYERS, EYRE & PARK TO F/A. BEWARE, THEY MAY INK PUTZ NEXT WHO’LL BE A HUGE HELP & LIDGE ALTERNATIVE. IF WE LET THAT HAPPEN & JJ IS HEALTHY WE’RE ASLEEP. WORD OUT OF PHILLY IS THEY’VE NO INTENTION OF INCREASING PAYROLL OVER ’09′s 128M.
It figures. Wow. Excellent spot on feedback to go with your reporting the news. Herein lies the difference between a great front office and a terrible front office.
Bad contract.
Are you referring to the bad contract the Mets gave Luis Castillo? I assume if the Mets had gotten Polanco you’d be trumpeting that the Mets made a great deal. You seem to be a Mets apologist reading your comments today. Lay off the Koolaid will ya.
They are both bad contracts. They shouldn’t get 3 years beacuse of their age. Danny is right his numbers are declining.
Omar hasn’t been a great Gm he has made bad signings and bad trades. But every year he gets the players the Mets need. Last year with Rodriguez and the year before with santana. This year would be no differnt. Don’t blame him for not doing enough you have to blame him for doing too much.
You’re comparing apples to oranges. The Phillies make money hand over fist unlike the Mets. The Mets have to be extremely careful how they spend and they have so many holes. The $50 million World Series share alone covers all of Polanco’s contract and he’s an upgrade over Ruiz. And Schneider is an upgrade over Coste. Phillies can be gunslingers because they have very little weaknesses. I read last week that they have one of the best revenue streams in MLB. Two upgrades for a team that has won the NL East Title 3 years straight? Give them your props not your jeers. Save the jeers for the Mets front office.
If the Phillies had so much more money than the Mets why didn’t they sign Figgins?
3 years $18M. He’s 35 years old. He had an incredible 2007 but numbers have been declining. Don’t be so sure that he’s the man.
True but he just turned 35 two weeks ago, wasn’t Raul Ibanez 37 this season for the Phillies? It got them another NL Title? Age is overrated. Conditioning is what should be considered and both Ibanez and Polanco are well conditioned athletes and 100% healthy at the time of their signings.
Luis Castillo on the underhand was poorly conditioned, and even though he was younger he broke down, plus Omar gave him his ill advised deal a couple of months after Castillo had two knee surgeries. He basically just did the same thing with Alex Cora.
What did Ibanez do in the second half? That will turn out to be a bad contract.
It’s hard to argue your point. There is so much wrong with the Mets and their management. I just don’t think it’s fair to react to every signing another team makes as to why the Mets didn’t get him.
Let me ask you – Do you think the Mets should raise their payroll to $200M this year and go for it all?
Not if Omar Minaya is doing the shopping.
I’d rather the Mets give 200 million to charity rather than letting Minaya and his minions squander it. No way! Let them stick to their $140 million and hope for the best. Sometimes even a blind squirrel can get lucky and find a nut.
Chicho
We’re both saying you can’t predict what happens on the field. The best signings could be plan b signings. It takes a great front office and some luck. Sometimes it’s better to lucky than good.
I’ll say it again – If Reyes and Beltran are healthy, and Wright has a comeback season we should be respectable. If we also sign a few “plan B” free agents that work out, we’ll be good. If we also sign Holliday we’ll be very good.
But what are the chances of all this happening. By the way – the above won’t raise payroll much.
So we’re relying on two hopes and a prayer just to get respectable? Nice.
Honestly, I wouldn’t want to be stuck with Polanco for 3-4 years.
Totally agree. Two years and a vesting option would have been my top offer. Unfortunately, this signing just set the bar for Orlando Hudson. That’s the biz of baseball I guess.
That is probably too long, but a lot of these contracts are a year too long. The Phillies do not have met monsy. I think he is a good sign for them. they have not stopped being aggressive. Rome burns while themets fiddle. not to worry, we have throwback jerseys coming next year.
Yes, we do have our throwback jerseys. Thank goodness for that. It’s true what you say about most contracts; they are usually a year too long. That’s the part that gives agents their big commission and ensures they keep their client. The Mets had plenty of deals that were a year too long; Ju. Franco, Mota, Perez, Pedro, Anderson, etc. Like I said earlier, it’s all part of the biz of baseball. And if helps the Phillies win other title, does it really matter?
The Phillies have no holes in thier lineup. Omar better be cooking something up good because Polanco is your NUMBER 7 HITTER in that lineup. Sheesh! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I just had to get that out.
Pat Gillick took over in November 2005. Gillick reshaped the club and it has been getting better ever since. Nothing lasts forever and Ruben Amaro Jr. became the General Manager after the 2008 season.
I think the long term jury is gathering evidence to decide if Amaro is good or if he was just in the right spot at the right time. He brought in Raul Ibanez, Cliff Lee and our old pal, Pedro Martinez. So far so good for the Phillies, but will the Phillies be viewed as the class of the National League East in a few years? Only time will tell. I remember a couple of years ago when most analysts thought the Tigers had the makings of a dynasty. Hmmm.
I see that this has gone several way. Honestly omar hasn’t done a horrible job. U have to give him credit and he has made this franchise respectable again. He’s made many moves and even though some people call them questionable he has been solid. No one else capitalized on johan like him. He brought big players over here. Luis castillo was healthy and did a great job last year but he was brought here to compliment jose reyes, but jose was not there last year. Its not omars fault and u can’t ask the guy to bring in a great leadoff guy, a five tool centerfielder and a power hitter in the middle of the year, because that is what we lost. Honestly, without omar and the moves he’s made you wouldn’t be upset because he made them respectable and I don’t feel like he’s been absolutely great but he’s been very good.
Now, the phillies have one thing we don’t have and that is home grown talent. Ryan howard, rollins, victorino, werth, utley. They paid very little to get these guys and they have a park that made ibanez a suddenly great power hitter. U will see more power from him this year as well. On the other hand, we have to play for the style of park we have. We have a pretty good speed team and need some power to compliment it. We won’t have 4 or 5 guys with 25+ homers but you could see more steals and more doubles.
I do expect wright to be better but he had an off year and that was highlighted even more when everyone else went down and the world expected him to hit 40 homers. He felt the pressure and maybe tried to change his game and it didn’t work. As always he was doing well went he went the other way and put up a great avg. But with the team we had, there was no one on bas e for him so what could’ve been a year with 100+ rbi turned out to be a lot less than that.
From my eyes, I refuse to over analyze every move being made and I will be very realistic in my assumptions. We have a good team and some of these guys might want to condition themselves better. Regardless much of the media already believes the yankees will repeat and the collapse is the farthest thing from their minds. But until I see the opening day lineup ON opening day, I refuse to be a pessamist like many others on this site.
Hmmmm….. maybe I should be writing on this site… tisk tisk….