The Return of Placido

In my opinion, the biggest move the Phillies made this off season was bringing back Placido Polanco. Polanco played second base for the Phils from 2002 to 2004 when he had to make room for a guy named Chase Utley. Now Polanco is returning to the Phils to play third base and also bat in the coveted two hole. The reason I like the addition of Polanco so much is he is a tremendous offensive player and can really help this team produce more runs. In years past, Polanco has proven he can get it done offensively, especially in 2007 when he hit .341 for the Detroit Tigers. The Phillies lineup is daunting to any pitcher. Rollins leads off followed by Polanco, Utley, Howard, Werth, Ibanez, Victorino and Chooch. It was frustrating at times last year because let's be honest Feliz wasn't a very good hitter. Defensively, he amazed me every night throwing strikes over to first in an effortless manner. But his numbers were not very impressive. In 2008, when Feliz first signed with the Phils he hit just .249 with only 14 hrs. And last year he hit .266 with only 12 hrs. Feliz was without a doubt a great player for the Phils and a vital part to their championship in 2008. All I'm saying is Polanco is definitely an upgrade. There has been a lot of speculation this spring as to how Polanco will adjust to the switch to third. My answer to that is he is a professional baseball player, fielding ground balls on the left side of the diamond is no different than fielding them on the right, and he will do just fine. Polanco, at age 35, brings a great deal of leadership and like Halladay, he also brings a strong hunger to win a World Series.