Thursday, December 3, 2009

Thoughts on Polanco and Wagner signings

The Atlanta Braves immediately addressed one of their pertinent needs this offseason as they signed probable future Hall-of-Fame closer Billy Wagner to a one year deal at a fairly reasonable price.

Any way you look at it, the Braves put themselves in a good situation this offseason. They offered both Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez arbitration, meaning even if they sign elsewhere, they will receive draft picks compensating those they lost signing Billy Wagner. If they accept arbitration, they have a great back of the bullpen featuring 3 guys who can close games.

And today, the Phillies signed a familiar face, Placido Polanco, once traded to them for Scott Rolen. Realistically, they traded stronger defense for a marginal offensive upgrade, at a price that ties them up for 3 years with a 34 year old third baseman. They must have decided players such as Mark DeRosa and Adrian Beltre were too expensive. But they didn't even sign Polanco to that cheap of a contract. The only real advantage to signing Polanco is that they didn't have to forfeit a draft pick.

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