The Astros are centered on re-signing Alex Bregman however aren’t placing all of their eggs in that basket. They’ve been linked to Willy Adames — one other probably nine-figure free agent — and have additionally checked in with just a few contingency plans, together with free agent Jorge Polanco, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Polanco, who’s coming off a down yr in Seattle and underwent knee surgical procedure in October, has usually been a center infielder, first coming to the majors as a shortstop in Minnesota earlier than transferring over to second base attributable to defensive considerations. The 31-year-old does have a little bit of expertise on the sizzling nook, having logged a mixed 180 innings there in two completely different seasons with the Twins (plus one other 128 frames there as a minor leaguer). He performed 103 innings at third base as just lately as 2023 in Minnesota.
The 2024 season was a catastrophe for Polanco, who’s battled knee troubles for a number of seasons and noticed these ongoing troubles culminate in offseason surgical procedure. His lone yr in Seattle produced a .213/.296/.355 slash in 118 video games — a far cry from the mixed .270/.338/.455 output Polanco posted in six years with the Twins from 2018-23. Polanco nonetheless cracked 16 house runs for the Mariners in 2024, however his strikeout fee spiked to a career-worst 29.2% and he posted a few of the worst defensive grades of his profession (-10 Outs Above Common).
Polanco underwent surgical procedure to restore the patellar tendon in his left knee in early October. He’d beforehand had IL stints for that very same knee in each 2023 and 2022, lacking about seven weeks of motion mixed between the 2 cases. Given the latest knee struggles and ugly leads to 2024, Polanco is probably going ticketed for a one-year deal. On the very least, he’d be an inexpensive various to Bregman/Adames who may permit the ’Stros to maybe spend elsewhere.
At this stage of his profession, nonetheless, asking Polanco to carry down third base repeatedly appears like a stretch. He’ll flip 32 subsequent July, is coming off that knee surgical procedure and already ranks poorly when it comes to arm power on his throws within the infield, per Statcast. Whereas throws from second base and third base can’t merely be in contrast in apples-to-apples trend — throws from third base are inherently going to come back in at a better velocity — Polanco is nicely beneath common even in comparison strictly to different second basemen; his common velocity ranked forty eighth among the many 63 gamers who made a minimum of 100 throws as a second baseman in 2024. Maybe a more healthy decrease half will result in higher life on his throws transferring ahead, however the latest traits don’t bode nicely for a transfer to 3rd base.
That mentioned, it’s a reasonably skinny market on the sizzling nook this offseason — a minimum of in free company. Bregman is the clear prime choice, although some groups may choose Adames, who’s reportedly keen to maneuver off shortstop in the suitable setting. Just about everybody past Bregman and Adames falls into the rebound candidate bucket, with Polanco becoming a member of names like Josh Rojas, Gio Urshela, Yoan Moncada, Brandon Drury and Luis Urias (amongst others). The commerce market consists of Alec Bohm and the pricier Nolan Arenado, to call a few probably the most distinguished candidates.
