So why isn't he here? There are about 15 million reasons.
You've been through this before, of course. By keeping Polanco in the minor leagues until June, the Pirates will gain an extra year of control. They may delay his eligibility for arbitration. They certainly will forestall his potential free agency by a year.
It's one of the few elements in the labor agreement that doesn't favor the players, and you can bet the union is searching for ways to close the loophole. It works. The Pirates won a division title in 1992 because they were able to keep Barry Bonds for a seventh season.
Bonds didn't make his major league debut until May 30 in 1986. He could have been on the opening day roster, starting in center field instead of Steve Kemp. But those extra two months in the minor leagues gave the Pirates an extra year of Bonds when he had blossomed into a regular MVP candidate.
These circumstances are obviously different. The 2014 Pirates expect to contend after a 94-win season that included a postseason appearance. Still, with the prices of players constantly escalating, there's ample reason to keep Polanco in Indianapolis for another month or so.
GM Neal Huntington is really taking one for the club in this case. Given the volatile nature of sports, it's unlikely Huntington will be the Pirates general manager in seven years, when Polanco's service time becomes an issue. The easiest thing would be to bring him up today and let someone else worry when the bill comes due in 2020, probably for $15 to $20 million.
Except for Ike Davis replacing Garrett Jones, this is basically the lineup that won 94 games last year. It's not unreasonable to expect more from players being paid major league wages until Polanco gets here in June.
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--Heading west
Congratulations to Jory Rand, who will be leaving KDKA-TV in June to become a weekend news anchor and reporter at KABC-TV in Los Angeles.
Pittsburgh used to be the No. 9 broadcast market. Now it's TV market No. 23, which means it has become a stepping stone for a lot of people. Rand is taking an impressive step. In LA, celebrity sightings might involve Elizabeth Hurley or Jennifer Aniston; here, it's more like Katie O'Malley or a WDVE DJ.
Even though Nightly Sports Call co-host Ron Cook never quite mastered the pronunciation of "Jory," Rand made his mark. He will be missed by the legion of prank callers who practice their craft on the no-budget nightly 10:35 pm. show. Rand has been a regular target ever since he came to town more than six years ago after John Steigerwald had finally grumped his way off the air.
Rand also made himself a lightning rod at the otherwise-sleepy weekly Mike Tomlin press conferences. Rand's questions always got a rise out of the Steelers coach, who is otherwise committed to showing as little candor and emotion as possible. Of course, the questions haven't always gotten answers, but that's OK.
While he'll probably be best remembered for that, Rand did some entertaining offbeat features for KDKA, one of the few stations in town that still makes time for that sort of thing.
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--Tense situation
When the Penguins are faced with adversity, there's always one burning question:
How is Dan Potash handling the stress?
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