Friday, December 4, 2009

Another reunion

It was reunion day at the South Philly sports complex yesterday.

Most of the talk surrounded Allen Iverson. But the Phillies also were in the process of bringing back a familiar face.

Placido Polanco, who was last seen here back in 2005 when he was shipped to the Tigers in the deal that landed the Phillies reliever Ugueth Urbina, yesterday signed a three-year, $18 million contract.

Polanco, who played a Gold Glove second base for Detroit, instead will fill the vacancy at third base created when the Phils declined to re-sign Pedro Feliz.

Polanco is generally seen as being better offensively than Feliz, but not as good with the glove, especially at third base. You might remember that one of the reasons Polanco departed in the first place was that he did not necessarily want to play the hot corner.

Which brings to mind something I’ve been wondering for awhile now. What exactly did Pedro Feliz do to tick off the Phils? For some reason, he became persona non grata after playing a sterling third base for two years. The Phils booted him to the curb, rejecting his $5.5 million option.

Now they have signed Polanco for more money. Kind of makes you wonder.

Don’t expect Polanco to pick the way Feliz did at third base. But his offense should make up for it. The Phillies lineup should be one of the all-time offensive juggernauts.

But they will miss Feliz’s glove.

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