Polanco returning to Mariners on 1-year deal with option for '26

The potential of having a healthy and productive Jorge Polanco for a full season, as well as the certainty of bringing back a good clubhouse fit, was enough for the Mariners to consummate a reunion with the veteran infielder Tuesday.

The Mariners announced they re-signed Polanco to a one-year deal for 2025 with a vesting option for ¡¯26. The deal, which will guarantee Polanco $7.75 million, includes a $7 million base salary for '25 and a $750,000 buyout on a vesting player option for ¡®26, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.

¡°We were excited how optimistic he felt about returning to the Mariners,¡± Seattle president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said. ¡°He knows our ballpark, he¡¯s familiar with our clubhouse, he knows our manager and staff, and I thought it was a real positive that he chose to be here. We¡¯re still open if the opportunity to add exists out there, but we feel it¡¯s a good team. And if this is our team going into Spring Training or Opening Day, I¡¯m pretty excited by it.¡±

Polanco, who Dipoto said would play mostly third base this season for Seattle, 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.

¡°Physically, he looks great,¡± Dipoto said. ¡°We had a chance to watch his workouts on video and we had some opportunity to visit him live. Our medical team was front and center in the organizational schedule of the surgery and then visiting with him throughout his rehab, up to and including when we opted not to pick up the option. And they¡¯ve stayed in contact with him throughout the offseason. He looks more explosive.¡±

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.

¡°He kept posting when [his] knee did not feel right, and obviously it was continuing to aggravate him throughout the year,¡± Dipoto said. ¡°He showed up and he gave us a chance by pitching in where he could, and now we get the benefit of a healthy version of Jorge in 2025 and we¡¯ll see where it takes us.¡±

The Mariners haven¡¯t been willing to trade any of their starting pitchers this winter, despite repeated interest from multiple teams. But even with the strength of their staff, the Mariners¡¯ lineup once again proved to be a serious liability, ranking 29th or 30th in team batting average, slugging percentage, OPS and K% through August, before a September surge helped right the statistical ship. They signed infielder Donovan Solano last month and are banking on rebound seasons from key players like J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodr¨ªguez.

¡°When we all met at season¡¯s end and talked about the positive trend that developed over the season¡¯s final six weeks, the way we saw our team come together, especially noticeable was the uptick we saw in our offense,¡± Dipoto said. ¡°The group generally played well together, and one of our points going into this offseason -- and I know I made it sitting in the dugout in the final series [last year] -- was we didn¡¯t anticipate a great deal of movement around the team. As we are now about a week away from heading to Spring Training, I¡¯d say that probably played out to be spot on, much to the dismay of a few. We have a good team.¡±