Astros Have Continued Interest In Jorge Polanco

ymakerpi8d

The Astros have ongoing interest in  , . According to , Houston could experiment with Polanco in left field if they land him.  Thatd be a first for the switch-hitting Polanco, who hasnt played a single major league inning in the outfield. He has logged over 7500 defensive innings in his career. Nearly all of them have come in the middle infield, while he also has a handful of starts at third base. His profe sional outfield experience consists of 73 innings in rookie ball in 2011-12.  Playing Polanco in left field would be no le s of a roll of the dice than it would be to send  out there. The latter option is seemingly on the table only if the Astros re-sign  , whod retake his spot at third base while pushing  to second base. Altuve has never started an MLB game at a position other than second base (or designated hitter), but he indicated hed be happy to try his hand in left field if it meant getting Bregman back  Sean Guenther Jersey on the roster. In any case, the Astros havent seemed enamored with the unsigned lefty-hitting outfield options (e.g.  ,  ).  Houstons interest in Polanco seems to be as a fallback if Bregman signs elsewhere. General manager Dana Brown said on Saturday that while Houston has had recent talks with their longtime third baseman, it remains a   that hell return. The Athletic reported last week that the teams previously reported six-year, $156MM offer remains on the table. However, its not clear if the Astros are open to pushing that any further. Unsurprisingly, wrote this afternoon that Bregman was unlikely to return unle s the team upped its offer.  While Polanco would obviously be far le s expensive, its questionable whether hed fit in Houstons spending plans. The Astros are set to offload $8.5MM of  salary once his is finalized. That dropped the teams estimated luxury tax number to roughly $236MM (per ). Theyre now about $5MM below the $241MM base tax threshold; they were a little more than $3MM above the line before the Pre sly trade.  Houston exceeded the luxury tax threshold last season. That their offer is still out to Bregman confirms theyre open to doing so again in certain circumstances. Thats not surprising with regards to a homegrown star who has been one of the faces of the most succe sful run in franchise history. Paying the competitive balance tax to accommodate Polanco  who hit .213/.296/.355 in a career-worst season with the Mariners last year  could be a tougher sell for ownership.  It seems likely that Polanco will beat $5MM wherever he winds up. He was one of the games better offensive second basemen between 2021-23. Hed played through a patellar tendon injury in his left knee last season. He underwent postseason surgery and is expected to be ready for Opening Day. The knee injury coupled with the challenge of hitting at Seattles T-Mobile Park make him an intriguing rebound target as he enters his age-31 season. Even if Polanco ends up settling for le s than $5MM, the signing would at least put the Astors right on the border of the threshold. If they prefer to stay below the CBT line, theyd probably need to offload more money in a trade or have limited payroll room for midseason acquisitions.  Jace Jung Jersey