2017 Wall of Fame Breakdown – Placido Polanco

By: Matt Alberston, Historical Columnist

Placido Polanco came to Philadelphia as a piece in the trade that sent Scott Rolen to St. Louis on July 29, 2002. Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Bob Brookover explained in a July 30 column that Polanco didn't have Rolen's power or ability to drive in runs but he was second in the National League in fielding percentage. Another Inquirer columnist Dan O'Neil commented that Polanco was a versatile and resilient player who was a team first kind of guy. 

Polanco was indeed a versatile player throughout his career, including his seven years in Philadelphia, where he played third base, second base, short stop, and outfield. He was a terrific defender; his Rfield (runs from fielding, a metric used to evaluate runs saved better or worse than the league average) in his Philadelphia career was a total of 52, which matched Rolen's Rfield rating compiled during his seven years in Philadelphia. However, Polanco's WAR in Philadelphia was 15.8 while Rolen's was 29.2, showing that while Polanco was able to get on base (.341 OBP), his run scoring ability was lesser than the man he was traded for. In short, Placido Polanco was an adequate player who developed into a veteran presence while the Phillies began to call up core components of the 2008 Phillies. He proved to be expendable once this core entrenched themselves in the lineup and was subsequently traded to Detroit for Ramon Martinez and Ugueth Urbina (who could forget a guy with a name like that?). 

Polanco compares statistically to some recent Wall of Fame inductees like Mike Lieberthal, John Kruk, and Darren Daulton, but he wasn't beloved like Kruk and Daulton, and Lieberthal outdistances Polanco in terms of Phillies career longevity. Once again, another good player but not a great player. There are three Hall of Famers who do not have bronze plaques in Ashburn Alley and are never on the Wall of Fame ballot, probably because their service to the Phillies was over 100 years ago and the average fan wouldn't know who they were (the infamous Harry Wright, mgr., Napoleon Lajoie, and Dave Bancroft – short stop for the 1915 Phillies, the first Phillies team to play in the World Series.) It's clear that the 2017 ballot is weak by design, paving the way for Pete Rose to be inducted onto the wall this August.