Placido Polanco is “90 percent retired”; Remains in shape ‘if Phillies call’.

Despite not being able to sign a Major League contract last season, 16-year veteran infielder Placido Polanco, at the age of 39, is not quite ready to call his playing career a wrap.

In an interview with El Nuevo Herald's Jorge Ebro, Polanco reveals that he is '90 percent retired', but is leaving a door open if someone calls. He added that he is 'maintaining his physical shape' for three teams in particular: the Phillies, Tigers and Marlins.

“Estoy como un 90 por ciento retirado. Estoy dejando una puerta abierta por si alguien llama, pero ya he hablado con mi familia. Me mantengo en forma por cuestión de salud, pero si suena el teléfono lo pensaría, quizá los Filis, los Tigres, los Marlins’’.

It is unclear why Polanco left out the Cardinals, the team that drafted him, in his list of hopeful teams. He spent the most amount of time of his career with in Philadelphia, roughly six seasons, however he spent nearly the same amount of time in Detroit as he did in St. Louis, four-and-a-half seasons each. Mentioning the Marlins makes sense for the infielder, as they have built a good team this offseason to compete in the weak National League East division.

When asked what would happen when the other 10 percent comes to fruition and he definitely retires from the game, Polanco replied that he would be understanding of the situation. He said that there have been many injuries throughout his career, and his body is taking longer and longer to recover, thus taking away some of his desire to continue pursing another opportunity. Polanco then remarked that he would miss many things from playing the game as it has meant so much to him, especially the friendships he has made in the clubhouse.

"Cuando uno hace una cosa durante tanto tiempo no es parte de la vida, es la vida misma."

English translation: "When you do one thing for so long, it isn't a part of life, it is life itself."

Later in the interview with Ebro, Polanco stated his disappointment of never winning a World Series, but didn't rule out winning one in the next chapter of his life as a either a coach or manager.

“Creo que he acumulado muchos conocimientos y, sobre todo, experiencias de cosas buenas y malas, de cómo reaccionar ante ciertas situaciones. Especialmente, puedo ayudar mucho a los latinos’’.

Read more here: http://www.elnuevoherald.com/deportes/beisbol/article12497981.html#storylink=cpy

English translation: "I think I've accumulated a lot of knowledge and, above all, good and bad experiences, and how to react to certain situations. I could especially help a lot to aspiring Latino ballplayers."

Polanco was drafted in the 19th round of the 1994 amateur draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, a year after not signing with the Chicago White Sox when drafted in the 49th round. With the Cardinals over 489 games, Polanco had 462 hits, with 97 of them being non-singles.

On July 29, 2002, Polanco was traded to Philadelphia as a part of the trade that sent 1997 National League Rookie of the Year and three-time Gold Glove recipient at the time, third baseman Scott Rolen, to St. Louis.

Seeking to get Chase Utley more playing time, the Phillies parted ways with the Dominican Republic-native approximately three years later, sending him to the Detroit Tigers on June 8, 2005 for utility infielder Ramon Martinez and right-handed reliever Ugueth Urbina. Polanco had 385 hits in 344 games as a Phillie from 2002-2005.

While in Motown, Polanco earned two Gold Glove awards, a Silver Slugger award, and an All-Star nomination. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 American League Championship Series, batting .529 with nine hits in 17 at-bats over the four-game sweep against the Oakland Athletics. Polanco had 200 hits for the Tigers in 2007, yielding the best, qualifying batting average of his career, .341.

On December 3, 2009, Polanco returned to Philadelphia on a three-year, $18 million contract, replacing 2008 World Series champion Pedro Feliz at the hot corner. In his second go-around wearing red pinstripes, Polanco had 373 hits over 344 games, but was plagued by a lingering back injury. He earned his second All-Star nomination in 2011.

Mutually parting ways with the Phillies in the 2012 offseason, Polly went on to sign with the Miami Marlins. He had just 98 hits in 118 games in 2013, as the Marlins were the second-worst team in baseball (62-100) behind the Houston Astros (51-111).

SB Nation's Fish Stripes describes Polanco's one-year stay down in Miami:

The Miami Marlins signed Placido Polanco to serve as a stopgap at third base. Instead, the team received the corpse that once was Polanco, as his entire game collapsed in 2013. …

The Marlins [instead] got an almost exact repeat of the 2012 season from Polanco, minus the injury problems that could have served as an excuse. Instead, it was age that seemed to have sapped Polanco's poor bat to unacceptable levels. He was always a player who depended on contact and "hitting them where they ain't" to succeed at the plate, and the BABIP portion faltered this year. He hit .278 on balls in play this season, and that was enough to sink his batting average and OBP (hey, a reoccurring theme with the Marlins!) even with a good 7.8 percent strikeout rate.

While Polanco wouldn't turn down the opportunity for a third playing stint in the City of Brotherly Love, such move by the Phillies in bringing him back would be extremely detrimental to Cody Asche, Cesar Hernandez, Freddy Galvis and prospect Maikel Franco's learning process, as value playing time of theirs would be decreased.

Even if taking valuable innings away from the Phillies' youth was not an issue, such a move in signing a 39-year-old would not make sense regardless unless the team felt they were in contention and needed a reliable bench asset. The Phillies have been projected to be the worst team in baseball this season, so it is safe to say such a thought will not even have to cross the front office's minds.

Taking Polly's consideration to manage in the near future, perhaps the Phillies will invite him to be a a Spring Training instructor next season down in Clearwater, similar to what Aaron Rowand, Dan Pleasac and Charlie Manuel currently are. For a .297 career hitter, hiring him as a hitting coach wouldn't be a bad scenario, either, as the Phillies had a mean batting average of .242 for the 2014 season.

The final line of Polanco's interview with Ebro says a lot about him as a person, not just of his professional experience playing baseball. When asked what Polanco would say to teach young prospects making their way to the big leagues, he replied:

“Disciplina. Hace falta todo, para comer, para practicar, para vivir’’.

English translation: "Discipline. Its always a need, to eat, to practice, to live.''

Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is a contributor to Philliedelphia.com.