Jorge Polanco’s Mounting Injury Concerns and Looming Option

[Major League Ready]

7 hours ago, KBJ1 said:

Agreed that a healthy Polanco is a borderline All Star and asset to the Twins. I also don't see anybody in the system capable of pushing him out.

Moving on from players too early can also come back to bite you.

Since Rosario, we have filled LF with a whole lot of not much.

At least Gallo can field the position,  but he is costing us 1M more and has a career batting Ave 70 points lower than Rosario. Gallo's two more HR a year does not justify this discrepancy. 

With a team batting ave barely over 200 and 10K's a game, No wonder we can't score any runs.

Unless we come up with an All Star 2B, keep Polanco.

Sure are a lot of people who want to compare Rosario after leaving to Rosario prior to leaving which is absolutely irrelevant.  How has he been since leaving.  The answer is he has been one of the worst corner OFers in the league.  How could it possibly be a mistake to have moved on from a player that has absolutely sucked?  We have not had great replacements for Rosario but pretty much everyone they have put out there have been better than Rosario has played since leaving.  

BA is a very incomplete measure of run production.  It's actually pretty useless.   Gallo's wRC+ is 123 this year.  Rosario's is 84.  Not only does his slugging justify the the BA discrepency, Gallo is a grossly superior defender.  It's just shocking anyone can look at how Rosario has performed since leaving and come up with moving on from Rosario was a bad thing.    

[arby58]

19 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

There is no guarantee that any of the options (Lewis, Lee, Martin, Julien, Severino......et. al.) will work, but, IMO, it is better to move on too soon, than too late. If they can get a top prospect for him, plus a flyer? I do that all day long and roll the dice that one of those guys is a good 2B next year.

I like Polanco (he could always hit) and his contract is team friendly, but that isn't going to get you a 'top prospect' given his injury concerns and the position he plays. You'll probably get a couple of mid-level prospects for him. I'd keep him, play him when he's healthy, and accept that there will be plenty of at bats for your tier of veterans (Farmer, Solano) or young players (Julien, Lewis).

[William K Johnson]

If Polanco is done at second, then Farmer goes there until Lee is ready.   When Lee is ready, the decision is to where he and Lewis play in the infield.    Julien currently has no business playing second base.    

[Doctor Wu]

With Polanco's injury history I can't see the Twins getting much of value for him in a trade at this point. I'd love to have him back if he looks healthy as the season progresses, but that's a big IF. And unless the Twins look like they have a good-fielding option at second base (don't think Julien qualifies for that), I'd roll the dice and pick up Polanco's option again. Or do they go out and sign a free agent second baseman, or trade for one? Not an easy decision. 

[MABB1959]

22 hours ago, arby58 said:

Berrios hasn't exactly tore up baseball since leaving the Twins. He was 12-7 with a 5.23 ERA and 1.42 WHIP last year. This year is better, at 6-4, 3.61 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, but that would still slot around 3 or 4 in terms of performance of Twins starting pitchers this year.

More than stats I love how he approaches the game and watching him pitch was fun.  He had a bad year (he was not happy and did not make excuses)  and so far it looks like he spent the off season working on his game.  His work ethic and keeping in tip-top shape is impressive and can't remember him spending time on the IL.  He typically gives his team 7 innings a value not noticed.  I also know he did not want to be here, he wants to spend the prime of his career with the Twins.  So far we got 2 players back that have not helped the team and not sure they will.

He will always be one of my favorite Twins pitchers after reading this in MLB I am really proud to be a fan!

José Berríos carries no-hitter into 7th in Blue Jays' win (mlb.com)

 

[Doctor Wu]

34 minutes ago, William K Johnson said:

If Polanco is done at second, then Farmer goes there until Lee is ready.   When Lee is ready, the decision is to where he and Lewis play in the infield.    Julien currently has no business playing second base.    

Farmer could be a good option. I like how he's played this year for the Twins. 

[MABB1959]

23 hours ago, arby58 said:

Eddie Rosario was maddingly inconsistent - and that continues to date. He had a pedestrian 2020 with Cleveland (.685 OPS, which is Kepler-like without the defense) before catching fire latter half of the year with Atlanta (.903 OPS) and was great in the play-offs. Then he had a really crappy last year (.587 OPS) and is just average this year.

Not analyzing stats Rosario, Arraez and Escobar make watching baseball fun and that has been rare for us the last few years. I loved the play-off series he was in.  It was so exciting to have a team to root for.  If I remember right they let him go and we got nothing.

[jorgenswest]

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Who are you confident in? Is Royce Lewis an adequate defender? Solano? Gallo? Castro?

Adequate… Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

[Blyleven2011]

18 hours ago, darwin22 said:

I totally agree with your assessment.  The biggest thing that can't be ignored is the FACT that Polanco has made 5 trips to the IL since June 2022.  As much as I (and many others) like Polanco we can't wish him back into the consistent hitter/ run producer he was.  He has played a grand total of 30 games this season.

My question to you (and others) centers on his "vested" option for 2024.  

Are the Twins mandated to pick up his $10.5m salary if he plays in 100 games? 

If that is the case then Polanco has some work to do.  94 games left to play.  The earliest Polanco can return from IL is June 19, which reduces games remaining to 89.  As a result, if I'm understanding his "vesting option" for 2024---Polanco would have to play in 70 of 89 games (78.7%) for the rest of the season.

What happens with this "vesting option" if Polanco plays in fewer than 100 games?  Can they just walk away from him?

Not saying I'm in support of that--just need some clarification.

If I'm not mistaken  , his option is based on plate appearances  not games played , if Polanco  gets to the number of plate appearances it automatically renews , if not the  the FO can either renew , trade him or let him walk  , wise choice would be to renew with two option years remaining   and then trade if that is there avenue ... 

[DJL44]

I doubt Polanco has much trade value. Most teams have someone who can play 2B. His offense and defense are in gradual decline and he's currently an average player but second basemen tend to become unplayable overnight. You don't need to pay $10M for an average 30-year-old second baseman - Drury and Frazier each signed for $8M last year. They have other options (Farmer, Julien, Castro, Gordon, Martin) on the roster.

I think they ride out the season with Polanco and decline the option for 2024.

[Craig Arko]

Following the reports from MLB.com it’s sounding more like Jorge won’t be back until July. At least this will give Julien a good, long, look.

[East Coast Twin]

6 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

If I'm not mistaken  , his option is based on plate appearances  not games played , if Polanco  gets to the number of plate appearances it automatically renews , if not the  the FO can either renew , trade him or let him walk  , wise choice would be to renew with two option years remaining   and then trade if that is there avenue ... 

The 2024 option vests with 550 plate appearances in 2023.  He's only had 127 PA so far this season.

[PatPfund]

@darwin22 Sorry, I've been off-site a lot lately! @East Coast Twin has the vesting stat, and Polanco is highly unlikely to hit it. Spotrac seems to show the Twins would have the option at that point with a $1 million buyout if they decline the option. If Jorge has a completely healthy second half (not holding my breath on that), he'd be a bargain to renew even with an eye to trade. if he doesn't, the million seems like the rational bet with Julien on the scene and others who could play the position (like Lewis).

But with this front office (see Kepler, Max) the rational isn't a given.