Seattle Mariners Detail How Reunion with Jorge Polanco Came About
The Seattle Mariners are a little over a week away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training. And although the Mariners could still make moves between when spring training begins and when opening day arrives March 27, the roster is effectively set. And the last significant move the club made (probably) was re-signing of infielder Jorge Polanco.
Seattle officially announced the deal with the 11-year veteran on Monday. He signed a one-year, $7 million deal with a potential for a $8 million player option in 2026. The option is conditional based on plate appearances. Polanco will play third base in 2025 rather than the second base he did in 2024.
Injuries and a new environment led to a down season for the one-time All-Star last season. He hit .213 with 16 home runs and 45 RBIs in 118 games played after coming over in a trade with the Minneseota Twins.
Jorge Polanco first vs second half
— Kick Dirt Baseball (@KickDirtBB) January 31, 2025
Hard Hit: 25.2% 📈 36.1%
FB: 36.1% 📈 47.6%
ISO: .085 📈 .201
wRC+: 71 📈 114
K: 32.6% 📉 25.7%
Maintained a 70th percentile chase and 78th percentile BB rate over entire season. Defense will be a big question mark. #Mariners pic.twitter.com/8KKJqG8KMm
Polanco had surgery in the offseason to repair one of his nagging injuries: a damaged patellar tendon in his left knee.
Polanco's injuries and down season led to Seattle declining his $12 million player option. But that decision didn't lead to a fallout between the two sides.
Mariners President of Baseball of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto attended a news conference via Zoom on Monday and mentioned that, after Polanco's surgery, Seattle continued to monitor his recovery both through video and in person.
Dipoto was confident in Polanco's health going into 2025 and mentioned his move to third was to help ease the pressure on his legs.
Dipoto also said the communication held throughout the offseason progressed to actual contract talks in the last week and a half.
"I'm not going to go into what did or didn't happen or various things that might have affected our end of things," Dipoto said in the news conference. "I think, like most players, Jorge — once we opted not to pick up the option — we did keep in touch. I think we left it in October on very good terms. And then we went out and explored the market and so did he. Ultimately, the fact that we did keep in touch, left us in a position where — as we got into the new year — that we really picked up the pace on those discussions. Obviously, here in the last 10 days or so we were able to sew something up."
Regardless of what spurred Seattle to make the decision to bring him back, if Polanco really is healthy and at his best, then he'll provide a big boost to the bottom half of the Mariners lineup.
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