Former Cardinal Placido Polanco is shining in Philadelphia

Placido Polanco broke into the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was drafted by the club in the 19th round of the 1994 amateur draft. He made the jump to St. Louis as a 23-year-old kid in 1999 and began his productive career. In four and a half years in St. Louis, Polanco consistently hit around .300 and played multiple positions in the field. His best year came in 2001 when he batted .307 with 173 hits. He was traded to Philadelphia in 2002 in a five-player deal that brought Scott Rolen to St. Louis. The deal worked out for the best, as Rolen helped the Redbirds win the 2006 World Series championship. Polanco was a member of the Detroit Tigers for that series. Still, like Philadelphia, St. Louis has to recognize how great Polanco has been his entire career and may wonder if they could have found a way to keep him. Head over to Call to the Pen to read my Ryno Report for the week: Placido Polanco is the Phillies’ MVP of 2010.