OnlyBucs

Yah, I like them both but for different reasons. The thing about Polanco is that while he's been decent, he's probably not living up to people's dreams of him as he came up as a prospect--thus all the negativity. However that doesn't negate the fact he hit 20+ bombs and stole a bunch of bases in a truncated season last year.



But yeah, in a perfect world he'd be somewhere hitting sixth or so, so his prolonged slumps don't hurt the team as much.

785558494E5F48080B3A0 wrote: Like I've said before I think all four of the OFers bring something worthwhile, and I'm glad I'm not the one that has to decide which ones to keep.  It might well be that Dickerson goes but I don't think that automatically points to "nuttings are cheap" which is I'm sure what'll we'll hear.  The two arrived at it in different ways, and Polanco certainly didn't look great doing it, but they were about equally valuable if you look at things like WAR (which, no, I'm not absolutely sold on either but it's as good a measurement as any).  Offensively in fewer PAs Polanco was better than Dickerson in everything but batting average (even had a higher OPB due to the walks, despite hitting almost 50 points lower in BA). 
I expect Dickerson and Cabrera to go and Polanco to reclaim RF for better or worse. It bothers me that I read the Pirates have "no interest" in signing Dickerson because I would hope they would at least be open to negotiating with him. But that presumes he'd be open to it too. There are different aspects to the "Nutting is cheap" story. We shouldn't simply assume that every player who didn't sign would gladly have done so if the money was right. We have no way of knowing if that enters into the Dickerson situation but IF it's true that the Pirates aren't even interested in a dialogue it is cause for concern. But we can't deny the overall policy of maintaining a very low payroll and that can effect whether a player they would like to sign chooses to do so. For instance, a player like Dickerson might prefer to go somewhere else where the owner is more likely to assemble a legitimate contender.



But back to Polanco: I think he's been miscast on this team as a difference maker because of the hype that preceded him. He a consistent .250ish hitter with some--but not great--power. But he can be a nice piece in a strong lineup that doesn't need consistent production from him. And right now, that's the Pirates' situation. As the roster is currently constructed for hitting, if he can bat 6th or 7th and hit his usual .250 with 20-25 HRs while other hitters can be more productive on a daily basis it would be a strong lineup. 






Agree  that he's a 250 hitter that can hit around 20HR's. Problem is that he's always banged up and doesn't appear to be able to contribute with SB's anymore. That said ,in today's game, the production you speak of is fine for a 2nd baseman , ss or catcher. Not so great for a RF with some fairly large numbers ready to hit in future contracts. 8 mill next year not bad but goes to 12.5 in 2021 and 13.5 in 2022.



Not to mention that he stinks defensively.