Welcome Philadelphia's New 3rd Basemen

I tweeted this as an "ugh" but the more I think about it, the more I consider it a "meh". The Phillies have signed Placido Polanco to play 3rd base for 3-years and $18 million. From Reuters

Personally I would have preferred Beltre despite his injury proneness but the Polanco signing does have an upside despite the obvious downside of he has not played 3rd base regularly in years. I would consider him the exact opposite of Pete Happy, if you will.

Polanco, who played second base for the past four seasons with the Detroit Tigers, will move to third base to replace Pedro Feliz, who is expected to sign elsewhere as a free agent.

A .303 career hitter, Polanco played for Philadelphia from 2002 to 2005 before being traded to the Tigers for relief pitcher Ugueth Urbina and infielder Ramon Martinez.

"We're very happy to have Placido back in a Phillies uniform," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told Major League Baseball website mlb.com.

"He's a professional hitter who will enhance our lineup. As a Gold Glove infielder, we're very confident that he will make a smooth transition back to third base. Polly also gives us some added versatility at second base if and when Chase (Utley) needs a rest."

Polanco hit .285 with 10 home runs and 72 RBIs in 618 at-bats last season with Detroit.

The Dominican has played 322 games in his career at third base, but only nine since the end of the 2004 season

Personally I would have preferred Beltre at 3rd base despite his injury proneness as I really felt he was the complete package for a 3rd basemen, but the part that worries me is that Polanco has only played 3B 9 times since 2004. Polanco has a solid consistent bat which is something that I do like (then again, I guess you can say the same about Pete Happy being consistent. Consistently bad, but it was consistent) and while he was a golden glove fielder I am worried that he will be prone to errors regularly playing a position that he has not played in a while, especially in the beginning of the year.

For those that do not know or do not remember, Polanco is actually a former Phillie. He played 2nd base for us at the start of the decade until some guy named Chase Utley emerged. The rest is history. Although there is a great irony here. When Utley emerged, everyone wanted to keep Polanco and move him to 3rd base. Well, 5 years later, Placido Polanco is our new 3rd baseman.

Polanco will likely bat 2nd in the line up and through no fault of his own, Victorino will be moved down to the spot Pete Happy used to occupy, the 7-hole. Polanco just fits better at the top, although personally, I would prefer Victorino leading off and J-Roll moving down to the 7 as I think his best days might be behind him.

Am I uber-excited about this move? No, I'm not, but for a line-up like the Phillies that needs something to compliment the power hitters, this can be a good move, provided Polanco's glove does not let him and the team down.