Howard Megdal brought up a very interesting point by e-mail last night. According to Fox Sports, the Phillies reached out to second baseman Orlando Hudson to see if he would be willing to move to third base before they signed Placido Polanco, himself a second baseman by trade, for the hot corner.
Keep in mind that, with both Chone Figgins and Adrian Beltre still on the market, it’s not like there are no slick-fielding third basemen available. Both of those guys are supposedly looking for a lot more than Polanco got, of course, but the Phillies didn’t exactly wait out the market.
I should note that if the Mets made the same move — a hypothetical, since they obviously don’t need a third baseman — I’d be killing Omar Minaya for it. Three years and $18 mil for a guy who doesn’t even play the position seems excessive, especially since he’s 34.
But since these are the Phillies — the big, bad Phillies, the team that always seems to beat up on my team — I’ll go ahead and assume they know something I don’t.
I’m just not quite sure what that could be.
Tedquarters 
Why give the benefit of the doubt to Amaro Jr? What good move has he done since being the GM? Extend Werth, maybe…but also extend Moyer, sign Ibanez etc.
maybe he’s a killer dancer and they wanted him at their holiday party?
I’m inclined to agree with Sam above. This Phillies team (dynasty?) is more Pat Gillick’s and even Ed Wade’s. It remains to be seen if Amaro Jr. will maintain it or destroy it.
I’m not prepared to crown Amaro Jr. king for getting a good April and May out of Ibanez, there’s a lot of contract left there. Moyer to that contract? Polanco to that contract and a position he hasn’t played since 2005? Schneider and Valdez before the non-tender period? Time will tell.
Amaro did an excellent job handling the acquisition of Cliff Lee. Instead of continuing to play the Halladay game with Ricciardi, he pulled the trigger on Lee, giving up much less than he would have had to for Halladay. It’s hard to see that Halladay would have given the Phillies more than Lee did. And if the Phillies re-sign Lee, he probably has quite a bit more in the tank that Halladay.
Victorino and Polanco have the same head size.
They’ll save on the bulk purchase of oddly shaped hats and helmets.
I never really noticed Polanco’s head before…. but wow, that thing is huge.
Agreed. Are two Great Gazoos too much for one team to handle?
Polanco played a healthy amount of third in tha Lou.
Who types “tha Lou”? What a tool this Sunil character is.