If you were excited by Gregory Polanco’s season debut this afternoon (and I certainly was), then there’s even more good news tonight: the Pirates have signed Polanco to a five-year extension (that is, through is arbitration years) plus two team options. The deal could keep Polanco in black and gold through his 30th birthday, if everything breaks right for the Pirates. Ken Rosenthal says the deal is worth $35 million for the five years and up to $60 million with the options.
These terms makes the deal a bit pricier than Starling Marte’s deal (six years/$31 million with ~$23 million in two team options), but then again, Marte’s deal is one of the most ridiculously team-friendly deals you’ll find anywhere. It represents a bit more of a risk than Marte’s did in that Polanco has struggled a bit more in the early part of his career, but I don’t think that any of Polanco’s struggles diminish the high ceiling everyone saw for him back before his debut in 2014; he’s figuring out right field pretty nicely, and he started to spray hard-hit line drives all over the park in the second half of 2015.
This puts Polanco under team control until 2023, which means he and Marte will roam the PNC outfield together at least through 2021, assuming the Pirates excercise Marte’s options (a given right now, but who knows in a few years). Given the success the Bucs have had with McCutchen and Marte’s deals, it’s hard not to be excited by this news today.
Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
