Pirates GM Ben Cherington: Gregory Polanco's release best for both parties

The Pittsburgh Pirates could have sent Gregory Polanco to the minors or banished him to a lesser role on the major-league bench, but general manager Ben Cherington explained Sunday that releasing the team’s longest-tenured player was the best option.

“We feel like we got to the point where, if we decided that he was not going be playing, he was going to be on the bench,” Cherington said on his show on 93.7 FM, “that it wouldn’t make sense for him to stay here. Because for someone like that who’s been here for a long time, it’s just a tough position to be in, to not play.”

Also, Cherington said, it would not make sense for the Pirates, with Polanco taking up a roster spot of someone the organization wants to have an eye on for the rest of the season.

“So, I think there is no perfect timing to get to that point or decision,” he said. “But that’s where we got at the end of this week. Once we get to that point, we believed that the best thing for the Pirates and the best thing for Gregory was to move on and give him a chance to go somewhere else and give us a chance to allocate playing time to someone else.”

Cherington said the conversations with Polanco weren’t difficult “because Gregory is such a reasonable and understanding guy.”

Cherington also said Polanco’s comments last week lashing out at the negative fan reaction toward him had nothing to do with his release.

“The comments that (Polanco) hears are comments all of us need to be prepared to hear as things aren’t going as well as we want them to go,” he said. “The fans will help hold us accountable when we’re not living up to expectations.”

Cherington said it was unclear what led to the fall-off in Polanco’s play in recent seasons.

“It could be the injuries (shoulder, late in the 2018 season), combined with the pandemic year, interrupted his pace,” Cherington said. “That’s one of those questions none of us will be able to answer with complete precision.”