When ESPN.com's Buster Olney polled six major league executives about this year's crop of Type A free agents, the panel was split evenly on whether the Detroit Tigers would offer Placido Polanco arbitration.
One exec suggested the Polanco was valuable enough to the Tigers that they wouldn't mind paying $6MM or $7MM to keep him around (Polanco has made $4.6MM in each of the last four seasons). Another thought that, having already committed $18MM to Magglio Ordonez, Detroit would have to "bite the bullet some place," and second base looks like as good a spot to do it as any.
After a slow start, Polanco has hit .322/.359/.420 since the All-Star break, and it looks like he'll just barely qualify as a Type A free agent. Olney points out that the second baseman, who turns 34 next week, is one player whose market value would take a huge hit if the Tigers offered arbitration.
Tonight's discussion question, then: What's Detroit's best move? Is Polanco valuable enough to keep on board for 2010? Or can the Tigers get similar production elsewhere at a lesser cost (either through a trade or from this year's free agent pool)?
