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Touching base (third)
By egrissom | January 26, 2010
Back in November I looked at some of the available players who looked like they might be a good match for the Phils at third base. The Phillies landed on Placido Polanco and most of the rest of that group has found a home by now as well:
| Player | Age | Status |
| P Feliz | 34 |
After the Phillies declined his $5.5 million option for 2010, Feliz signed a one-year deal with the Astros for $4.5 million. |
| P Polanco | 34 | Signed a three-year, $18 million deal with the Phillies |
| A Beltre | 30 | Signed a one-year, $9 million deal with Boston |
| C Figgins | 32 | Signed a four-year, $36 million deal with Seattle. |
| M DeRosa | 34 | Signed with San Francisco for two years, $12 million |
| G Atkins | 30 | Signed a one year contract with Baltimore. The contract is for $4 million with incentives that could earn Atkins an additional $1 million. He will likely play first base and not third. |
| T Glaus | 33 | Signed with the Braves for one-year, $1.75 million. He is expected to play first base and not third with Atlanta. |
| M Tejada | 35 | Agreed to a one-year, $6 million deal with Baltimore |
| J Crede | 31 | Unsigned |
I don’t think the Polanco contract looks great in relation to the signings for the group given the length of Polanco’s new deal. I would rather have Polanco for three years at his contract than Figgins for four years at his contract. I’m not as sure about the rest of the group.
After the Phillies declined Feliz’s option for 2010 I would guess they couldn’t have signed him as a free agent for one-year, $4.5 million even if they had wanted to. They might have been better off if they did.
Glaus’s signing may be the steal of the group, cause if he’s healthy he’s a lock to be the best offensive player in the group. Even if he’s not a hundred percent, there’s still a good chance he’s the best hitter in the group in 2009. Let’s just hope he really can’t play third base at all.
I think the O’s got a great deal on Atkins, too. I think it’s much more likely that he will see time at third in the future, despite Baltimore’s preference to play him at first. It’s undeniable that he was miserable in 2009, but including that awful year he has hit 292/359/472 over the past four seasons and averaged 21 homers and 94 RBI. Let’s hope he really can’t play third, either.
I’m definitely rooting for Polanco to hit .320 with 15 home runs. And maybe he will. He’s getting old, though, and he’s coming off a bad year. If I were guessing, Feliz and Crede are the only players in the group that I feel confident that Polanco will outperform offensively in 2010. And that’s in year one of a three-year deal. And maybe he can play third, but he’s not a third baseman. So let’s hope for the best. But the time that’s past since the signing hasn’t done a whole lot to make me feel better about the deal for the Phillies.
Joe Blanton and the Phillies agreed to a three-year, $24 million deal.
Victorino and the Phils agreed to a three-year, $22 million deal.
The Phillies and Ruiz agreed to a three-year, $8.85 million deal.
This suggests the Phillies have agreed to a one-year deal with right-handed pitcher Jose Contreras, which is worth about $1 million. Contreras pitched for the White Sox and Rockies last year, posting a 4.92 ERA with a 1.47 ratio over 131 2/3 innings. He spent most of the past three years with the White Sox and has a 5.09 ERA over the past three seasons. He was traded to the Rockies at the end of the 2009 season and he got his first chance to pitch for a NL team — in seven appearances he threw to a 1.59 ERA over 17 innings but with a 1.65 ratio (his ERA+ while throwing to a 1.59 ERA with the Rockies was 288).
Topics: third base |
January 26th, 2010 at 10:21 am
The Contreras link is broken - http://http://
January 26th, 2010 at 11:18 am
I think Beltre is the best player on that list, and he got only half of what Polanco did (granted for two less years).
Glaus could be a steal for the Braves.
January 26th, 2010 at 11:26 am
I would have been happier if the Phils got Atkins to play third at the contract he got or DeRosa at the contract DeRosa got.
I really don’t like the three-year thing for Polanco. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen, but what if he really can’t play third? He probably can. The length of the Polanco contract makes me wonder if they would have been better off with one of the one year deals that Feliz, Beltre or Tejada wound up taking.
Glaus is a monster if he’s healthy. I think he’s a tough guy to count on. 100% or not, he’s still my pick to put up the best numbers of the group in 2010. I do believe he can’t play third base, though.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
I really like Glaus with the bat too, but if you sign him you better sign somebody else or be ready to have Greg Dobbs as your everyday 3B for about 140 games. I just don’t think Glaus would’ve worked on this team as it is currently comprised.
I would’ve liked DeRosa and his contract a lot more than Polanco, or even Polanco for Beltre’s contract. I just don’t like the three years thing. It seems to me they are going to be looking for another upgrade next off-season.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
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January 26th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Oh man. I have to hope for more from Polanco than you guys. If not, I will go crazy about having neither Figgins OR Lee.
January 27th, 2010 at 8:54 am
I have hope. I’d be a little happier if I needed one year of hope instead of three, but still hope.
January 27th, 2010 at 9:44 am
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/01/25/the-top-100-prospects-of-2010-1-25/?icid=main|htmlws-main-w|dl3|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fmlb.fanhouse.com%2F2010%2F01%2F25%2Fthe-top-100-prospects-of-2010-1-25%2F
hi all
above is the new list of the 100 best minor league prospects. the Phillies appear on that list, but nearly as often as I had thought we would if we are supposed to have this wonderful farm system. did Amaro actually have to “restock”? maybe yes.
January 27th, 2010 at 9:45 am
um, above i meant to say NOT nearly as often as I had hoped.
January 27th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
The Contreras link should work now.
On the farm system I don’t think the need to restock by trading away Cliff Lee was as dire as it was presented. I don’t think the Phillies got great prospects when they traded Lee away. Still should be fun to see Domonic Brown sometime soon.
January 27th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
As the team is currently constructed, I have to wonder if they should’ve kept Taylor and moved Brown. Brown is left-handed, and presumably he is the back-up plan to Werth, who is not left-handed. Taylor is not left-handed either, and would presumably then made a better Plan B.
January 27th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Does anybody think Polanco will also be used to spell Utley maybe 10 games a year (or, heaven forbid, replace him if he gets hurt) or do you think they will try to avoid switching him back and forth between 2nd and 3rd base? If this was part of the intention, then the Polanco deal looks a lot better, since those other guys are definitely not as good at 2nd.
January 27th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Personally, I have been against the Polanco signing before it happened. I would have liked to see Dobbs start at 3rd for about 120+ games against RHP.
Maybe “egrissom” could put up Dobbs’ stats as a starter each year he has been with the Phillies. I believe it’s pretty good.
I realize we might be giving something up on defense.
January 27th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
I agree that the Phillies would have been a lot better off keeping Taylor instead of Brown if they had a chance. For me it’s mostly just because Taylor seems like he’s a lot closer to helping a major league team than Brown.
On Polanco at second, I hope he doesn’t take Utley’s bat out of the lineup too often. I agree that his position flexibility is nice, but when Utley’s healthy I hope he’s on the field. I don’t think the Phillies will try to avoid switching Polanco back and forth between second and third. It’s nice to have the backup, but if Utley gets hurt the Phillies are in a lot of trouble. I do think it’s nice to have another good glove at second given the interleague DH games — I could see Utley at DH and Polanco at second to give Utley a partial day off. As long as it doesn’t mean Castro starting at third I’m happy with that.