Mariners Re-Sign Jorge Polanco to One-Year, $7.75-Million Contract
Despite receiving offers from other teams, infielder Jorge Polanco is staying put in Seattle.
The 31-year-old agreed to a one-year contract worth $7.75 million on Thursday, marking his return to the Mariners, as MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and Brian McTaggart first reported. It also includes a vesting player/mutual option based on plate appearances for 2026, carrying a $750,000 buyout.
Seattle acquired Polanco – whose new deal is pending a physical – via trade from the Minnesota Twins last off-season, believing the team was adding an impact switch-hitter to their lineup. Instead, he struggled mightily at the plate while battling a left knee injury.
One year after slashing .255/.335/.454 with a 117 wRC+ (100 league average), the 5-foot-11 veteran clubbed 16 home runs – two more than his 2023 total, albeit across nearly 30 more games – while posting a measly .213/.296/.355 slash line and 92 wRC+ in 118 games with the Mariners. He also recorded a career-high 29.2-percent strikeout rate.
To his credit though, Polanco’s production took a turn for the better in the second half. He hit 10 of his 16 round-trippers over his final 52 contests, accounting for a much-improved 116 wRC+ across the final two-plus months.
The Dominican native’s quality-of-contact metrics also improved following the All-Star break, with his hard-hit rate rising from 34.8 percent to 38.2 and his barrel rate climbing from 6.7 percent to 9.9 in the unofficial second half.
Shortly after the regular season concluded, which saw Seattle narrowly miss the playoffs for a second straight year, Polanco underwent surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee. But he should be fully recovered once spring training arrives in a few weeks.
Polanco played 112 games at second base a season ago, logging 925.1 innings – the second-most of his 11 major league seasons. However, he’s expected to primarily be deployed at the hot corner in 2025, according to multiple reports.
Moving Polanco to the left side of the diamond means Seattle will likely rotate multiple players through second, including Dylan Moore and Donovan Solano – who signed with the franchise as a free agent earlier this off-season.
The switch-hitting infielder was reportedly a top target for another AL West club prior to re-signing in the Pacific Northwest – the Houston Astros, who planned to move All-Star Jose Altuve to left field if the deal went through. Since it didn’t, they’re expected to continue pursuing a potential reunion with third baseman Alex Bregman.
It’s been a quiet off-season for the Mariners thus far due to the front office’s limited financial flexibility from ownership, preventing management from making the necessary offensive improvements to its lineup. So, barring a late signing or trade, they’re likely poised to run it back with the same group next season.
That could work out if key hitters like Polanco, Julio Rodríguez, and Mitch Garver – all of whom underperformed in 2024 – return to their career norms. Plus, the offence will feature outfielder Randy Arozarena for a full season after he was acquired in a blockbuster trade from the Tampa Bay Rays last summer.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.