The Toronto Blue Jays signed Gregory Polanco to a minor-league contract Tuesday, the final day for the former Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder to be eligible for the postseason.
The Pirates waived Polanco on Aug. 22, but he was not claimed, so they released him Saturday. Polanco was in the final year of a five-year, $35 million contract signed in 2016, so the Pirates will pay the balance of his $11 million salary, plus a $3 million buyout of his 2022 club option.
Polanco, 29, had a career .241 batting average with 96 home runs and 362 RBIs in eight seasons with the Pirates. He batted .258 with 22 home runs and 86 RBIs in 2016 and .254 with 23 homers and 81 RBIs in 2018 before suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery.
Polanco never returned to his previous form. He played only 42 games in 2019, then batted .153 with seven homers and 22 RBIs in 50 games last year. Polanco was hitting .208 with 12 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs and 36 RBIs and a team-best 14 stolen bases in 107 games this year, though he hovered around or below the Mendoza Line before going 6 for 11 in his last four games with the Pirates before the release.
The Blue Jays have a loaded outfield, with George Springer, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez, Corey Dickerson and Jarrod Dyson, though Springer left Tuesday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles after showing discomfort. He had been out with a left knee injury.
Dickerson and Dyson are former Pirates teammates of Polanco, who has been assigned to Triple-A Buffalo.
