Per reports by Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, and Brian McTaggart and Mark Feinsand of MLB, the Seattle Mariners are re-signing INF Jorge Polanco to a one-year deal worth $7m. The deal reportedly has a vesting/mutual option for another year based upon plate appearances, which would also come with a $750k buyout for 2026, bumping the total guaranteed money to $7.75m. Per Ari Alexander, sports reporter for KPRC in Houston, the deal includes significant incentives for 2025 as well that could get up to $3.5m, though those will stem from Polanco playing well enough and healthily enough to a point where the M’s will be happy to pay them. The 31 year old has had just two full seasons wherein he’s remained healthy enough to play 150+ games or 550+ plate appearances, but he’s largely been an above-average hitter as a pro. Multiple reports indicate that the plan is for Polanco to primarily play third base, which would place him back in Seattle’s opening day lineup for the second straight year.
The 2024 season was Polanco’s worst since he debuted, leading to Seattle declining a $12m option on him in favor of a $750k buyout. The poor play was highlighted by a career worst strikeout rate that ballooned to 29.2%, nearly 10% above his career rates and much higher than even the past two seasons. Polo’s struggles were in part due to lower body injuries, including a hamstring issue and a knee injury that ultimately required surgery in October. For Seattle, the hope is obviously to see Polanco at full health, wherein he’s been a highly effective batter in a big league career that will enter its 12th year in 2025. His career line of .263/.330/.435 and a 109 wRC+ can work at third base, where Polanco has played 180 innings in the majors across 24 games, primarily in 2023. His 92 wRC+ on a .213/.296/.355 line in 2024 wasn’t even the club’s most egregious, but paired with poor glovework it was a forgettable campaign.
Never a glowing defensive savant, Polanco’s lack of range was and is a severe detriment at second base, though typically surehanded enough if he could reach the ball. Seattle clearly thinks Polanco will be better suited to the hot corner at this point in his career, an assumption that is understandable. Polanco hasn’t demonstrated great arm strength in the past several years either, however it’s typically been less pronounced as a limitation than his range, which Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average metric deemed to be in the 2nd percentile in 2024, at -10.
Polanco will need to build on the positives in his down season, particularly that he continued to have reasonable plate discipline and pitch selection despite diminished outcomes. Moreover, even though his overall numbers sagged, he still clubbed 16 home runs in 469 plate appearances, and was able to barrel the ball when he did get contact with decent frequency. Barring a major trade, Polanco’s signing would appear to be the capstone of this offseason, as between Polanco and Donovan Solano, the M’s have spent over two-thirds of the ~$15m figure ownership has allotted the organization this winter. Between Polanco, Solano, and Dylan Moore, the M’s now have three players who’ve shown they can cover the second and third base positions as big leaguers over multiple seasons, while each has also struggled to remain healthy. A juggling act of all three, along with likely time platooning Luke Raley at first base and some DH work right now appears to be plan A. Signing Polanco also obviously does not commit the M’s longer term in the infield, a nod to their belief that their depth of internal options in their farm system can rise up and take on work as soon as this season.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
