Mark Madden: Gregory Polanco's career has been a disaster for Pirates

Gregory Polanco got waived by the Pirates one day, then started for them the next.

That is so Polanco and so Pirates.

The Pirates should alternate Polanco and some other bum like Anthony Alford in right field. (Alford got waived by the Pirates in April but stayed with the organization.) Waive one, play the other. Do the switcheroo the next day. Not much demand for guys hitting .200 or so.

The disaster that is Polanco’s career can’t be understated.

Polanco is the last remaining player from the Pirates getting three straight wild cards from 2013-15. Those teams had so much talent, and Polanco is the one the Pirates kept. (That’s because, among other reasons, few of the truly good players wanted to stay.)

By the time the Pirates opt out of Polanco’s remaining two contracted years after this season, they will have paid Polanco $31 million.

For their expenditure, the Pirates got a player who has never hit over .258 in his eight seasons, never hit over 23 home runs and got worse instead of better. Polanco hit .153 last season and is hitting .209 this year (after going 3 for 5 with two RBIs on Thursday). He plays right field and runs the bases as if he needs a map. Polanco plays stupid, lazy baseball. The more he got paid, the lousier he got.

He’s only 29, but “El Coffee” went cold long ago. Maybe he was decaffeinated in the first place.

We’re supposed to believe that the Pirates have a process now: Great draft, terrific farm system, plan in place, wait till 2024, blah, blah, blah.

But if their prospects do coalesce into a winning team, what makes you think the right guys get kept this time around?

The Pirates’ media stooges present GM Ben Cherington as far superior to his predecessor, Neal Huntington. But Huntington assembled those playoff teams in 2013-15. When that roster disintegrated, it wasn’t because of Huntington. It was because owner Bob Nutting didn’t want to shell out to keep that roster together, not even for another season.

Nutting is still the owner.

The waiving of Polanco was an incredibly transparent look at Nutting’s greed. There’s no prospect to plug into right field who would gain experience with Polanco gone. That was evident when Polanco went straight back into the lineup after clearing waivers.

Nutting was just trying to ditch the remainder of Polanco’s $11 million ticket for this season (about $2.4 million prorated) and the aforementioned $3 million buyout for next season. Nobody bit because Polanco stinks, but anything to increase profit is worth a try. Every single decision made by the Pirates is motivated primarily by money.

The best that can be hoped for is another brief run on the level of ’13-15. It won’t be sustained or put over the top by the necessary spending because that didn’t happen in ’13-15.

Remember, good players don’t want to stay in Pittsburgh for the long term, or any length of time beyond minimal. Ke’Bryan Hayes — who is having a stunningly average rookie season after much hype — pondered aloud in an interview if he’d be around to lead the young guys someday.

Spoken like a grizzled veteran of 24.

Don’t wonder who the next Andrew McCutchen will be.

Wonder who the next Polanco will be. That’s the best you can hope for.

Meantime, recognize the current Polanco for what he’s been over the last two seasons: One of the very worst players in baseball. He has the lowest WAR (-1.2) of any MLB player with at least 300 plate appearances this season. Yet he plays.