Polanco signs 4 year deal!

[redsrbetter]

Polanco agrees to a four-year extension

Unlike Farnsworth, second baseman met with Tigers, and he gets four years, $18.4 million.

By Tom Gage / The Detroit News


Morris Richardson II / The Detroit News

First baseman Chris Shelton ends up with only a slice of his bat in the fifth inning against the Mariners. He went 0-for-4.


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DETROIT -- See what can occur if a team and a potential free agent sit down to negotiate?

It didn't happen with Kyle Farnsworth because Farnsworth's side didn't want it to happen. That's why the Tigers traded him.


But on Tuesday, it happened with second baseman Placido Polanco, whom the Tigers signed to a four-year, $18.4 million extension.

The amount of the extension equals Polanco's 2005 salary of $4.6 million multiplied by four -- which makes it a good deal for both sides. Polanco budged on the average salary, and the Tigers added a fourth year to the extension.

When asked if the Tigers also would have added a fourth year to the Farnsworth offer, if negotiations had ever opened, general manager Dave Dombrowski didn't want to comment.

But the two situations couldn't provide a clearer difference between a player who wants to stay with the Tigers and was looking for ways to make it work, as Polanco did, and a player intent on testing free agency.

The signing of Polanco, 29, improved from possibility to probability when the Tigers didn't trade him by Sunday's nonwaiver deadline. Polanco had said all along that he liked Detroit and the Tigers organization, but a four-year extension is a sizable time commitment on both sides -- considering that Polanco has been a Tiger for less than two months.

"I've liked this team from the first day I got here," Polanco said. "It's just a matter of time before we turn everything around."

It also didn't take long for the Tigers to see there's a lot to like about Polanco. Acquired June 8 from the Phillies for Ugueth Urbina and infielder Ramon Martinez, he arrived with a .316 batting average in 43 games. In his first 31 games for the Tigers, he hit .358.

"From the get-go, I noticed what a team player he is," manager Alan Trammell said. "You can't get enough of that."

The signing of Polanco adds to the Tigers' core of players with long-term contracts -- Pudge Rodriguez, Carlos Guillen, Dmitri Young and Magglio Ordonez.

"It helps because it's another position where we have stability," Dombrowski said.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/tigers/0...D06-267978.htm

[RockSports17]

Not bad. Haven't been able to watch as much Tigers as I would like to. From everything I've seen Polanco is quite the player. The money aspect isn't to bad. 4.6 mill for a player like Polanco is pretty darn good. Good job on Domb and Polanco parts to getting this extension done.

[Fishercat]

I think it's a bit pricey for Polanco, but it isn't a travesty. At least he can hit unlike certain MI making nearly 4.6 million dollars who made a transition between the AL Central and NL East.

[CrazyEights]

Polanco is a decent player, but I don't think he's worth that price. They could have done a lot worse though.