MLB Today: Placido Polanco on Trade Block
Quintin Berry (right) has helped spur Detroit’s turnaround.
Heading into the 2012 season, we didn’t have major expectations for Philadelphia Phillies’ third baseman Placido Polanco, ranking him 30th among Fantasy players at the hot corner.
The way things have gone this season, the veteran would love to be performing as we as we projected as he currently ranks around 50th among third baseman. In other words, Polanco’s value has been limited to deep NL-only leagues at best.
Polanco took another 0-for-3 Monday, running his hitless streak to three straight games. Since his last multi-hit effort on June 29, he’s just 3-for-31, losing almost 20 points in his average in the process.
While he showed some life in May and especially June, the other two months — April and July — have been downright ugly.
Overall, Polanco’s walk rate has dropped significantly this season and his current BA is his lowest mark since he was a rookie with the Cardinals way back in 1998.
From a Fantasy perspective, our recommendation is to dump Polanco, unless you are in a very deep NL-only league, in which case, plop him on your bench until he starts to hit again.
At the age of 36, it’s reasonable to wonder how much Polanco has left in the tank. For some reason, the Orioles are interested, but the Phils are holding out for one or two top prospects, which seems foolish. A bottle of ketchup would be a great return right now. If it’s jalapeno ketchup, we’d make that deal in a heartbeat.
The Phils are definitely considering going into seller mode, and if they can find a sucker willing to take on Polanco, they have to jump at the chance.
Of course, Polanco isn’t the only veteran that may be on the block in Philadelphia. Others that could be moved include Shane Victorino, Joe Blanton and Cole Hamels. Even Jimmy Rollins is now being bandied about as a possible trade chip.
Quick Hits
- Andy Dirks (Achilles) is making progress, but it’s hard to imagine Quintin Berry getting knocked out of the Tiger lineup considering the impact he’s made. On Monday, Berry came through with his second three-hit game in the past three contests, swiping two bases, while scoring twice and driving in one. Berry is nearly a must-own AL-only league asset and is worth considering if you need an OFer in your mixed league. We hope you listened to us and grabbed him back in late-May.
- Joey Votto, who’s been playing hurt since late-June, finally went for an MRI Monday and the news was not good. He needs surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee and will be out 3-to-4 weeks. It’s an awful blow to his owners after Votto shook off early-season struggles and had been rolling like an MVP for weeks. In fact, only Andrew McCutchen looks like a better choice as NL MVP through the first half of the season. Look for Todd Frazier to play pretty much everyday in Votto’s absence, making him a superb waiver wire add. As for Votto, obviously all you can do is stash him on your bench for the next month and hope he picks up right where he left off when he returns.
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