Brady's Spin: Seattle Mariners Should Probably Bring Back Jorge Polanco, But They Won't
It's been widely reported throughout the early portions of the offseason that the Seattle Mariners are unlikely to bring back second baseman Jorge Polanco.
Polanco, acquired from the Minnesota Twins last offseason, has a $12 million option that the team could exercise but is likely to decline.
It is understandable why the Mariners would decline the option. Polanco hit .213 this season and dealt with a serious knee injury that just required surgery. He's 31 years old and doesn't play great defense anymore. He was an All-Star in 2019 and hit 33 homers back in 2021, but he's been injured and regressing since then. Furthermore, for a team with money concerns like the Mariners, spending $12 million on a hopeful reclamation project isn't wise.
Here's the problem: $12 million isn't really that much money, especially in today's game. While I understand that Polanco is far from a certainty to improve in 2025, the M's should be willing to take the chance while also upgrading the roster around him. If the Mariners added enough pieces to the offense so that Polanco could be a seven hitter and not a five hitter, they could afford to take a little risk with him. If he improved and hit .240 even, he'd be a massive upgrade to the bottom of the order.
Furthermore, the M's could use him as a buffer to allow Cole Young more time to develop in the minor leagues. But because they want us to believe that money is such a big issue, they won't take the risk on Polanco. They'll tell us that they can get the same production from Ryan Bliss for 1/12th the price, but they will also neglect the upside that Polanco brings to the table.
The Mariners should have enough money to take a little risk and not have it crush them if it doesn't work out. They should be willing to spend so that Polanco is just one part of the solution, and not the whole solution, as he was this year.
But they won't.
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