Polanco agrees to deal to return to Mariners (source)

The Mariners are reuniting with infielder Jorge Polanco on a free-agent contract, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand on Thursday night. The club has not confirmed the deal, which is expected to guarantee him $7.75 million with a $7 million base salary for 2025 plus a $750K buyout on a player/mutual option for 2026, according to a source.

Polanco -- who is expected to play third base this season for Seattle, per a source -- entered last season as one of six middle infielders who had produced an OPS of .750 or better in each full season from 2019-23, joining Jose Altuve, Corey Seager, Bo Bichette, Xander Bogaerts and Trea Turner.

But after being traded from the Twins to the Mariners, Polanco had a tough 2024 season in Seattle. Polanco saw his OPS dip to .651, and he set career lows in batting average (.213) and on-base percentage (.296). His strikeout rate, which stood at 18.2% for his career, soared to 29.2%.

Polanco’s off-year can be partially attributed to a left knee injury that lingered for much of the season. He underwent surgery early in the offseason to fix this latest issue, but left knee and hamstring ailments have been responsible for five stints on the injured list for Polanco over the past three seasons.

When healthy, the 31-year-old Polanco has been a consistently above-average bat; he posted at least a 110 OPS+ during each full season from 2018-23. He launched 22 home runs in ‘19, hit a career-high 33 in ‘21 and still had 16 homers last season despite his struggles.

An 11-year veteran, Polanco spent his first 10 big league years with Minnesota. He began receiving extended playing time by 2016 and put up a .269/.334/.446 slash line with 112 homers over the next eight seasons. He has been a poor defender throughout his career and recorded minus-10 Outs Above Average at second base last year -- the worst among qualified players at the position.