ST. LOUIS — Might be a good time to take those Gregory Polanco jerseys down off of eBay or pull them out of the trash.
The Pirates placed Polanco, their longest-tenured and highest-paid player, on outright waivers Sunday, although there’s more to it than a simple desire to release him as many assumed.
It happened for a couple reasons, sources told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shortly after the news broke, emphasizing that if a team does not claim Polanco — which is likely where this will go — he will remain part of the active roster.
Now, the Pirates did what they did to potentially move on from Polanco, who has been struggling, and free up playing time for other (mostly younger) players. No hiding that. And if another team claims Polanco, that’s exactly what will happen.
Pittsburgh also wanted to give Polanco the chance to maybe discover his game elsewhere and/or play for a contender, if someone had a need or thought they could help the struggling right fielder.
The move was more gauging interest or offering something to see if anyone wanted it more than trying to throw it in the trash.
The kicker here is the acquiring team has to assume the balance of Polanco’s salary — roughly $2.4 million — which is tough to see happening considering he’s hitting .169 with a .414 OPS in August while noticeably struggling to make throws in right.
Overall, Polanco is slashing .199/.278/.343 in 102 games this season, with 11 home runs, 34 RBIs and 98 strikeouts in 367 plate appearances.
If Polanco goes unclaimed, again, the Pirates have no plans to immediately release him or do anything with him other than keep him on the active roster — at least for the foreseeable future.
Sure, they may play him less and will assuredly have to if they want to give others a chance. But the Pirates have resisted designating Polanco for assignment because they don’t feel like he deserves that, and this appears to fit within those parameters.
The Pirates did everything they could to help Polanco find his game before enacting this option, starting him in 17 of 19 games in August. Earlier this season, Polanco spoke at length with the Post-Gazette about his future in Pittsburgh, saying how much he liked the city and the team and how he wanted to stay.
“I always worry because I love this organization, man,” Polanco said. “I love being here. But, hey, like I say, it’s not in my hands. I’m gonna keep working hard. I’m gonna continue to improve my work and give 100%. Every day I have a chance, I’m going to do my best. That’s the only thing I can control right now.”
The Pirates signed Polanco to a five-year, $35 million extension in April 2016, which carried a $12.5 million option or $3 million buyout for 2022.
It seemed a bargain at the time, where the Pirates paid up front for potential that Polanco unfortunately never reached in Pittsburgh. The Dominican Republic native has played 818 games over eight seasons with the Pirates, hitting .241 with a .717 OPS, 96 home runs and 360 RBIs.
If Polanco does continue with the Pirates the rest of the way, it’s pretty much guaranteed they will simply just buy him out for $3 million instead of picking up his 2022 option, making him a free agent.
“We have felt — and still feel — to this point that he’s a really talented player who’s still not that old and, we think, finally healthy,” general manager Ben Cherington said earlier this month. “We think he’s still capable of being a good major league player.
“We’re not blind to the performance. If you think about the last several years for Gregory, whether it was injuries or a short season, up until this year, he simply didn’t play a lot of baseball for a while. So I think we’ve had some desire to give him every chance to play a lot of baseball and find himself again.”
Polanco is the Pirates’ longest-tenured and highest-paid player, the last remaining piece from what was supposed to be their dream outfield of Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Polanco.
The best statistical season for Polanco likely came in 2016, when he hit .258 with a .786 OPS in 144 games, driving in 86 runs and stealing 17 bases. There was a resurgence of that two years later, when Polanco used a strong second half to hit .254 with an .839 OPS in 130 games, hitting 23 homers with 81 RBIs and 12 steals.
But shoulder and knee injuries after that season proved proved difficult to overcome, as Polanco never played to that level again. Issues with his left shoulder have stuck with Polanco, and he has consistently been one of the worst throwing outfielders in Major League Baseball.
The move comes as the Pirates look to prioritize playing time for players who have a better chance of becoming a part of their plans moving forward.
Cherington said on Sunday that Anthony Alford would return from the 10-day injured list as early as Monday and that they also want to see what Yoshi Tsutsugo can do. Tsutsugo has played the outfield and first base, although the Pirates already have Bryan Reynolds, Ben Gamel and Colin Moran as productive players in those positions.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: August 22, 2021, 11:54 p.m.
