Pittsburgh Pirates News: Gregory Polanco Signs in Japan

The Pittsburgh Pirates saw one of their former top prospects make a decision this week.  The outfielder will head to Japan.

It really was a disappointing end to Gregory Polanco’s tenure as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  There was so much hope and promise for the former top prospect. At the end of the 2014 baseball season, Polanco was actually ranked the 13th best prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline.

So when it came time to release him last August, there was a lot of frustration let out, and as there should have been.  Polanco may have represented everything that went wrong with the previous Front Office.  He struggled to translate his game to the next level, he signed a team-friendly extension that ended up being more of a burden.  In general, Polanco just never came close to reaching the potential that was as fans were sold on for so many years.

This past season was the last chance for Polanco to produce for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He had a team option in his contract for the 2022 season. Without putting together a solid season, no team would want him at that $11.5 million dollar price for 2022.  It was a last ditch hope that the team would be able to at least trade him for something.

That would not be the case. He had the worst season of his rollercoaster career in 2021.  He only managed to bat .208 with a .637 OPS for the 2021 season.  Yet, the Pittsburgh Pirates stuck it out with him hoping he would catch fire.  By the end of August Polanco had finally been released and would end up joining the Toronto Blue Jays on a minor league contract.

Now Polanco is headed to Japan. According to reports the former Pirate will sign with the Yomiuri Giants, pending a physical.

Polanco will go to Japan in an effort to rejuvenate his career. Hopefully Polanco will be able to that and find his way back to MLB in another year or two.