A few weeks after declining the team-option on third baseman Pedro Feliz, the Phillies will reportedly sign Placido Polanco to a three-year, $18 million contract to replace Feliz at third.

Polanco, a right-handed hitter like Feliz, figures to slot in between Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley in the two-hole in the lineup, freeing Shane Victorino to move down and a) bring a lot of speed to the bottom (seven hole?) in the lineup and b) put him in more of a run producing role.

Defensively, Polanco should be fine. He’s won three straight Gold Gloves at second, though he has only played nine games at third since the end of the 2004 season.

Caution Flags…Polanco’s last three years have seen declines in batting average (.341-.307-.285), on-base percentage (.388-.350-.331), slugging percentage (.458-.417-.396), and thus OPS (.846-.767-.727)…He will be 36 at the end of the contract.

That said…The Phillies, who had Polanco from 2002-2005 before trading him for Uggy Urbina and Ramon Martinez, know what they’re getting. He’s a professional hitter and a great defender (so was Feliz) moving to a bandbox from one of the better pitcher’s parks in the league. Plus he gets to slot in between three of the best hitters in the game. He’ll be fine. Like the move.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Phillies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.