The Blue Jays have signed outfielder Gregory Polanco to a minor league deal, the team informed reporters (including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet). Toronto also re-signed right-hander Elvis Luciano, who had been released last week, on a minors pact.
Polanco finds a new home shortly after being released by the Pirates over the weekend. That brought an end to Polanco’s twelve-year tenure in the Pittsburgh organization, which began when he was signed during the 2009-10 international signing period. The powerful corner outfielder eventually emerged as one of the game’s most talented prospects, peaking as Baseball America’s #10 overall farmhand entering the 2014 season.
That year, Polanco made his MLB debut and took over as the Pirates regular right fielder. While his career got off to a slow start, the left-handed hitter eventually made good on some of his promise. Polanco hit .254/.340/.499 (123 wRC+) over 535 plate appearances in 2018, seemingly setting the stage for him to settle in as a core piece of the Bucs future.
Unfortunately, Polanco underwent season-ending shoulder surgery that September. He’s never been anywhere close to the same since that point. Over the past three seasons, he has hit just .203/.270/.364 across 723 trips to the dish. Those struggles continued to mount this season, as the 28-year-old posted only a .208/.283/.354 line before Pittsburgh moved on.
Needless to say, the past few years haven’t gone as Polanco or the Pirates had hoped. There’s no risk for the Blue Jays in brining him aboard on a minor league deal to see if a change of scenery and coaching can help him regain any of the promise he showed a few seasons ago. The Pirates remain on the hook for the balance of Polanco’s $11MM salary (as well as a $3MM buyout on a 2022 club option).
Toronto will only Polanco the prorated league minimum salary if he makes it onto the big league roster, with that mark subtracted from Pittsburgh’s obligations. Because the Jays worked out a deal with Polanco before September 1, he would be eligible for their postseason roster. That’d require him to perform well enough to earn an MLB look and the Jays to erase a four and a half game deficit in the Wild Card race over the season’s final month. Polanco will again reach free agency this offseason.
Luciano was cut loose last week to open a spot on the Jays’ 40-man roster. He’ll now return without requiring a 40-man spot. Luciano has spent the season with Double-A New Hampshire, where he’s posted a 3.41 ERA across 34 1/3 innings but suffered through a pair of stints on the injured list.
Good luck gregory. Great guy. Hope you make the best of a second chance
Jays are in desperate need for LH bats.
Swapping a Gurriel or Grichuk for a CF who hits LH this offseason should be a priority. Given Gurriels struggles and Grichuk contract I doubt the guy coming back won’t come with some serious flaws.
Grichuk for Jackie Bradley jr? Springer hasn’t played CF more than 89 games in one season so Jays need a platoon CF.
Gurriel Jr. struggles are not that bad. Yes he had some moments earlier the year but has made some strides over the past two months. His bat is worth keeping him in the lineup over Grichuk, Dyson or Polanco.
What’s his OBP?
Gurriel, .272/.307/.430/.737, 99 ops+, 1.2 war
Grichuk, .242/.282/.434/.716, 91 ops+, 0.6 war
Polanco, .208/.283/.354/.637, 72 ops+, -1.4 war
Why trade Grichuk when you can have Odubel Herrera for just money in the off-season??
Polanco is a shell of himself because of a major shoulder injury…. think Cam Newton
GP can’t catch up with a fastball or throw but good luck to him i guess
I’m shocked that Cam got released today
Maybe if Cam practiced his Football moves more than his dance moves in practice he’d still be with the team
Lol watch football for once B
I know. He was a great running back for the Patriots. Too bad he couldn’t throw the ball. Did you also know there is a parade in Boston this Sunday celebrating his departure?
Still sounds better than Grichuk…
Grichuk was suppose to be a good-great player, instead he is just ok. Won’t drive in a ton of runs, will pop 20 solo homeruns and 20 doubles and play decent defense. He had so much potential I’m still waiting for him to fully break out one year, like Colby Rasmus.
Sad to see it when it comes due to injury like in Polanco case, he was putting it all together then got hurt. Grick and Rasmus never were.
Grichuck has been a life saver for a Blue Jays team that has seen their big money investment in George Springer miss 81 games so far this season and help weather terrible offense from Rowdy Tellez and at times Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Grichuk has been worth a very low, but still positive 0.5 WAR
Polanco is at -1.4
So if the Jays had used Polanco instead of the not very good Grichuk, they would likely have 2 fewer Wins
It’s hard to express just how bad Polanco has been, but that helps to explain it fairly well
Gregory is hitting the ball harder than he has at any time in his career, just check his EV’s on Fangraphs. His swing and miss problem has nothing to do with a slow bat, he can definitely catch up to FB’s.
Whi the hell cares about newton. This is about Polanco.
Because they both had major shoulder injuries/surgery in their throwing shoulders and now they both are ineffective as professionals, to be polite.
That’s why he’s in the right place, an AL team to DH. The shoulder injury affected his throwing, but his swing and bat speed are not affected.
Good for Gregory, I hope he does well there.
Something tells me all Polanco needs is a change in atmosphere… hope everything works out for both parties!
Something tells me that a change of scenery will not transform Polanco into a player who can catch, throw, slide, be consistent in positive ways, or give value consistent with performance.
And the last time I looked, teams were less interested in nice guys who are wonderful teammates, ignoring three straight years of underwhelming performance and more interested in people who can perform at a major-league level.
I wouldn’t bet on him, but definitely worth giving him a shot. If he gets it together for a short stretch even, he’s got the talent. Had the talent, at least.
so was Luciano on the IL when they designated him?
They activated him from the IL just a couple days before and he made one appearance, so as best I can tell, he seems to be healthy. I’m not actually sure why they went the release and re-sign route as opposed to just outrighting him. Maybe they wanted to re-work something minor in the contract structure?
A little surprised this was the best he could do. But at least he got a shot.
.203/.270/.364/.634, 69 ops+, -2.9 WAR last three seasons
.208/.283/.354/.637, 72 ops+, -1.4 WAR this season
You expected more than a minor league contract with a team not making playoffs?
As Pirates fans, we expected the Rays to sign him and have him become a threat to win the Triple Crown in 2022, or at least Comeback Player of Year.
Polanco has a 3 million dollar buy out next season. Are the pirates now off the hook for this? If so I’m sure they are ecstatic.
Nope…
It would be nice to see Polanco pull it together, but I definitely have my doubts. I’ve often wondered if Polanco would have been a better player if he had been 5’11” or 6 foot, instead of 6’4″. As you watch him play, it seems like his body is often getting in his way, especially in the field and on the basepaths. He always reminded me of the tall kids in school, that you figured should have been basketball stars because of their height, but had no body coordination whatsoever. Blue Jays fans will see it soon enough. Polanco is very fast, but one of the most awkward baserunners that I’ve ever seen. Same with in the outfield. He does have a nice swing, though, and can hit it a long way…when he makes contact.
Hello Anthony,
Is it ‘briining’ or ‘bringing’? Can you please fix the spelling error?
“There’s no risk for the Blue Jays in ‘brining’ him aboard on a minor league deal to see if a change of scenery and coaching can help him regain any of the promise he showed a few seasons ago”.
Is that necessary?