The Mariners are bringing back Jorge Polanco. They announced Monday that they’ve re-signed the veteran infielder to a one-year deal with a vesting/player option for the 2026 season. Polanco, an Octagon client, will reportedly be guaranteed $7.75MM. That comes in the form of a $7MM base salary in 2025 plus a $750K buyout on a mutual option. That mutual option can become a $6MM player option if Polanco reaches 450 plate appearances, and the option price would climb further, to $8MM, if he gets to 550 plate appearances. Polanco, who’ll move across the diamond and play third base for Seattle in 2025, can earn an additional $3.5MM worth of incentives. If he hits all of those incentives and picks up the player option, the contract would top out at $18.5MM over two seasons.
Polanco’s first season with the Mariners was a disappointment. Seattle acquired the switch-hitter from the Twins late last offseason. They expected him to provide a significant offensive boost in the infield. That didn’t pan out, as Polanco struggled through arguably the worst year of his career. He hit .213/.296/.355 with 16 home runs through 469 plate appearances. The batting average and on-base percentage were personal lows. The slugging percentage was only marginally above his career-worst .354 mark from the shortened 2020 season.
Before last season, Polanco had been one of the league’s more productive middle infielders. He combined for a .255/.333/.462 slash with a strong 10.1% walk rate in more than 1400 plate appearances over his final three seasons in Minnesota. Polanco had hit 33 homers back in 2021 and was an annual threat for 20 longballs and 30+ doubles. Polanco managed just 11 doubles during his first year in Seattle. He continued to draw walks at a solid 9.8% clip, but he struck out in more than 29% of his plate appearances.
Some of the offensive downturn is attributable to T-Mobile Park. Seattle plays in MLB’s most pitcher-friendly home stadium. Polanco had an especially difficult time at home. He hit .193/.284/.322 while striking out at a 31.9% clip in Seattle. His road production (.233/.308/.386 with a 26.7% strikeout rate) was better but still well below his previous standards.
Health may have been a bigger issue than the ballpark. Polanco underwent surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee within weeks of the season’s conclusion. He had reportedly played through discomfort for a good portion of the season. Polanco is expected to be ready for the start of Spring Training. The Mariners are as familiar as any team with his health history. They evidently believe that last year’s struggles were something of an aberration.
While he’s entering his 10th full season, Polanco is only 31. His relative youth provides some optimism that last year was mostly a health-related anomaly. That said, the whiffs have been a multiyear concern. Polanco’s strikeout rate has climbed by multiple percentage points in five straight seasons. In 2020, he fanned in just 15.5% of his plate appearances. That jumped successively to a 25.7% clip in his final season with the Twins, which climbed nearly four points more with the Mariners.
Polanco’s previous contract included a $12MM team option that came with a $750K buyout. Seattle declined that relatively easily. Four months later, they bring him back at a slightly lesser salary. It’s probably not a coincidence that the performance bonuses theoretically allow him to max out next year’s guarantee at $11.25MM — the differential below the option price and the buyout.
They’re not quite running things back, as Polanco’s return comes with a position change. He has been a middle infielder throughout his career. Polanco played shortstop until moving to second base in 2021. He didn’t play anywhere other than second base last season. His major league third base experience consists of 20 starts and 180 innings. Polanco has never been a great defensive second baseman. His range could be less of an issue at third, though that’ll put some pressure on his arm. Polanco didn’t show great arm strength at second base, though that’s not a direct comparison to throwing across the diamond — which he did during his time as a shortstop.
Seattle feels more comfortable with their internal options at second base than they do at the hot corner. That bodes well for 25-year-old Ryan Bliss, who is likely to get first crack at the second base job. Bliss debuted late last season and hit .222/.290/.397 in 33 games. A former second-round pick by the Diamondbacks, he had a quality .269/.377/.456 showing over 433 plate appearances with Triple-A Tacoma last year.
The M’s will likely give Bliss the bulk of the playing time while working utilityman Dylan Moore through the position. Seattle’s lone additional MLB free agent signing, Donovan Solano, can also play some second base (though he’ll get more work as a platoon partner for Luke Raley at first). Seattle didn’t have anyone established at third base after non-tendering Josh Rojas.
Seattle wasn’t the only team interested in expanding Polanco’s versatility. He reportedly drew interest from the Astros as a possibility at either third base or in left field. Polanco has seemingly been Houston’s primary fallback if they don’t re-sign Alex Bregman. They no longer need a third baseman after landing Isaac Paredes in the Kyle Tucker deal, but they’re still hunting for a left fielder and would like to re-sign Bregman. That’d push Paredes to second and Jose Altuve to left field.
Seattle has reportedly had around $15-20MM in payroll space this winter. Solano and Polanco have accounted for just over $11MM, leaving a few million for a potential bench bat or middle relief pickup. RosterResource calculates their 2025 player payroll around $152MM.
Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome of The Athletic first reported that Polanco and the Mariners had an agreement. Rosenthal was first to report the $7.75MM guarantee and the move to third base. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reported that it was a one-year deal with a vesting/player option. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reported the $3.5MM in incentives. Jon Heyman of the New York Post provided the more detailed financial breakdown. Image courtesy of Imagn.
Desperation on both sides, we’ll take it i guess.
Desperation is an understatement
It’s more like sign him or get 50 games of subpar yoan moncada
I’d prefer a healthy Moncada, but the health concerns may very well be the reason he remains unsigned. He already had an issue in winter ball and removed himself from play, presumably out of fear of a bigger injury.
But it’s hard to believe there wasn’t/isn’t a better option they could have landed via trade, even if it meant parting with a top prospect like Cole Young.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was, but that Dipoto/ ownership simply wasn’t willing to pay the price.
We’ve gotta remember that the 2 year deal here have to Garver is his biggest while in Seattle (and likely biggest that was genuinely his call and not an owner’s).
And we’ve begun to see that he isn’t quite the same Trader Jerry the last few years compared to his first few.
His power seemed to be picking toward the end of last season under Edgar and Wilson, do hopefully he can get back to his old self out if the gate this season under the “new management”. If another 3B/2B bat is brought in,, they can plug Polanco in at DH to platoon with Hanger. Now is the time to also bring back Turner to platoon at 1B with Raley. Need a right handed bat and Turner is consistent and dependable and fit in nicely last season. if Turner goes elsewhere, then (reluctantly?) bring France back as the rh 1B platoon. Not exciting moves, but still welcome additions. Or, maybe Locklear has a breakout Spring?
There is no more room for JT with Solano + Locklear
The odds of Locklear on the opening day roster? The dud didn’t really hit in AAA last year.
Locklear isn’t a lock for the opening day roster.
Not sold on the kid whatsoever thus far. He looked absolutely lost at times, that pop up towards the dugout blunder with Cal when Dumper stared darts into him stands out. Can’t handle a breaking pitch and was easy to fool, looked like a AAAA to me. Hope he proves me wrong
I hope they do sign Turner, whether they use him at first or strictly as a DH.
Neither Haniger nor Garver should ever be in the lineup as DH. Haniger should be the next one to be released.
I agree, but without moving Haniger or Garver, the front office doesn’t have the money for Turner.
As the most profitable team in Baseball, it’s not that they don’t have the money, they are choosing not to spend the money… big difference.
How exactly do you presume they bring back France? He’s under contract with Cincinnatti for this coming season.
France was DFAed by Cincy and was not tendered a contract for 25.
Ahh. Kinda. The MLBTR article says he was outrighted and elected free agency.
Functionally the same, really.
Players are outrighted after they’ve been designated for assignment and pass through waivers unclaimed.
Hey, it worked last year. Wait, what? Ahahahaha!
“Polanco is only 31. His relative youth provides some optimism that last year was mostly a health-related anomaly”
—————————-
This is the worst sort of nonsense from a professional baseball site. Peak is age 26-27. Most guys are out of the game or headed out by 30.
‘He’s just 31… he’ll get it going any day now…’
Tripe.
It does say “relative”. And there are still plenty of guys around the league at all positions who don’t head out the door by age 30 and, in fact, find a next gear, a next pitch, a new hitting coach, etc., etc., etc. You’re trying to paint a water color with a spray paint can, bud. Your assessment here is tripe, not the writing.
monster-baseball.com/2024/02/24/aging-curves-in-pr…
Actually it’s ages 27-29. That’s derived from statistics. I believe this is the 2nd time you’ve been provided with these facts.
Yet here you are calling it nonsense and being critical of others. Seems that a common theme with your comments is presenting opinion as fact and those opinions often are not all that accurate.
Baseball peak is very well-recorded to generally be 28-30. Most players across history perform better versions of themselves at 31 than 26.
We’ll take it? This %€£¥ is exactly what ownership loves to hear.
Fans: “We won’t spend any money? Fine… then we’ll just accept it and hope for the best.”
Ownership: – Mr. Burns sinister laughter. “Perfect.”
So 3 months after the World Series has ended this is the big move to improve the team! Is this April fools day or what?
If 152M is all ownership is willing to spend on payroll we will be lucky to finish ahead of the A’s! Texas 230M, Houston 240M, Angels 225M, Sacramento 115M.. Unless ownership raises the budget to at least 200M there is a zero chance of seriously competing for a Championship! With arb eligible players it will take at least another 25M next year just to cover their raises!
Weird
What?
Holy crap unexpected, I guess I like him as a bounce back candidate
They did.. something!!
Taco – All I can say is “Hip hip Jorge!”!!!
Barely qualifies
A new low.
Not even close but sure.
Oh he’s closer to a new low than this being a good move.
Sure, but it’s not close to either for the Mariners. I can probably name 20 worse signings on paper in the team’s history in 5 minutes.
At least Polanco has a successful history and a few metrics that point toward an ability to bounce back to average.
They loved him so much they just had to bring him and his .213/.296/.355 back. He does such wonders as a contact hitter…oh, wait. 137Ks in only 118 games explains the putrid stat line.
I agree 100% but to be fair most hitters who go to Seattle suddenly suck. That batting eye and cool air stadium makes their pitchers look better and hitters look worse. Mariners leadership seems pretty clueless about how to be competitive
Clueless and pretty stingy with the cheddar.
I get it. But consider his 740 OPS in the 2nd half, he is a good bounceback candidate
He is. But can he play third base?
Can’t play it any worse than he does 2B.
2019 All-Star
Gotta squint hard through binoculars in the rear view mirror to see that. To put it simply, they needed to sign Alex Bregman, but instead they settled for the lowest tier and a guy who stunk the place up for THEM in 2024. You know the guy who sucked like nobody’s business for us last year and we kicked him to the curb? We just gave him his old job back. He was in the discount bin at Dollar Tree, and we’d been drinking, so……..
Do you honestly think they were even remotely going to sign Bregman? I mean any chance whatsoever?
If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that Seattle isn’t going to sign any long-term contracts. They seem to think they can develop the players they need and will need (and possibly trade some of them).
That remains to be seen, but I certainly wouldn’t expect any contracts for more than 2 years for the foreseeable future.
They’ve done such a bang up job of that over the past decade. And, as you stated, they are not willing to bring in quality bats to prop up the offense. Nellie, is about it…
Ownership has no desire to compete, u less it’s for the profit championship.
Tough to root for…
Bregman will not be worth what he will end up signing for.
To be fair, though, you have to recognize a pure pull-hitting RHB like Alex Bregman going from Houston to Seattle is an epic collapse waiting to happen.
And… Well… Apparently, they didn’t kick him to the curb (or at least not as hard as we would like).
He better be healthy man because we can’t take another 600 ops season again
This is as unexpected as Alex bregman going back to the Astros- wait that didn’t happen yet
I’m ok with this. With what’s left anyways. Won’t interfere with Cole Young’s timeline too much
Ken Rosenthal said Polanco is moving to 3B. Cole Young is most likely going to play 2B after a hopeful mid summer call up.
I loved Polo as a Twin but his few exploits as a third baseman there were by all accounts disastrous. Plus I don’t think he has the arm strength to play there regularly anyway.
Why would hitters sign in Seattle? They must be overpaying him or he doesn’t care about his stats. That stadium kills production from the plate. There’s over a 20 point difference in his OPS+ from his last minny season compared to what he did last year in Seattle. He probably didn’t get many teams showing interest because you have to be crazy to be willing to hit in Seattle
Great city to live in
Yeah I love Seattle. They have a ton of homeless everywhere but also my favorite hot dogs. The combo of cream cheese, sauerkraut, grilled onions and jalapenos on a hot dog and beautiful city isn’t enough to tank your stats though. Making millions of dollars per year means every major league city is a great city to live in. Maybe the M’s outbid everyone by a significant factor and combined with no state income tax, it convinced him. I’m just surprised that the M’s front office struggles with competing so much.
The homeless are being removed so Seattle once again can be a beautiful city.
Or, maybe he sees an opportunity to prove you wrong.
@nonchalanto
That’s unlikely. Jorge and I have never met or exchanged words
Yes, but you are an example of many fans across many sports doubting an athletes ability to do his job. And athletes have said numerous times that the so called “haters” have motivated them. I will concede your point about playing in Seattle but sometimes there are other reasons for signing a free agent contract.
That’s why I was considering the possibilities. Yours just seems ridiculous and unlikely but I don’t mean to insult you. Maybe I have motivated Polanco. I don’t think our comments mean as much as you think they do though. It’s pretty silly to think that way, right?
@Nonchalanto
If Polanco out performs expectations, I’ll take credit at behest of you
Maybe he’s read your bad economics
@flakysouthpaw Maybe he doesn’t understand economics like you don’t.
I apologize, I didn’t mean to call you out specifically, although that’s exactly what I did. What possibilities were you considering?
@nonchalanto
Maybe he loves living by extreme amounts of homeless. Maybe he loves Seattle dogs as much as I do. Maybe the M’s offered the most money. Those seem more likely than he wants to prove internet strangers wrong. I like your theory too though
Thank you for clarifying your position. Him possibly signing a contract because of “He loves living by extreme amounts of homeless” seems unlikely, but I appreciate your opinion. Also you suggested he doesn’t care about his stats which sounds reasonable I guess because I’m sure I’ve heard an athlete talk about how wins as a team matter.
I’m just confused about being “crazy”and what my theory was? Also, I didn’t suggest “internet strangers” I said fans.
Have a good night.
You know there is a greater surrounding community in Seattle that doesn’t have this “extreme” homelessness you are referring to lmfaoooo.
I don’t see you blowing up NY, LA, Chicago, or Denver posts with things that have zero to do with sports.
Those cities are all run by similar policies that citizens vote in. Perhaps they get what they vote for.
No state income tax is a good reason.
Yes bpg
That’s why I mentioned income tax earlier
I must have missed it in the thread; my bad.
Cheater alert! Just like Cano
Probably out of the Yankees budget. So who’s left to sign for 3B for Yankees on the cheap and desperate???
@mlb
I’d rather give DJ or one of the nva a shot rather than just throwing money at a guy like Polanco. He would’ve cost the Yanks an additional $11 mil so with the tax, he would be around $22 mil.
Jose Iglesias.
YES. I’ve heard nothing about that guy this winter.
Moncada
How did he cheat?
PEDs with the Twins
I like this move. Polonco is a good hitter. Everyone was down last year. I expect a better year from him under Edgar and Seitzer’s guidance.
I figured he’d try to get out of Seattle since it’s not a great hitter’s party, but it looks like the two sides were each others best and only dance partners.
Who had this on their Bingo card? No one…
At the end of last season I thought they might keep him – but once they let him go, I sure didn’t expect to see him come back.
He was on my list of possibilities.
Good! I’m relieved that he will not be signing with the Astros. Nothing against Jorge, just not a great fit.
The .193/.284/.322 splits at home is ghastly, but so was every other Mariner’s hitter.
Mariners do nothing for me to want to be a Mariners fan. I have lived here for 34 years. Still rooting for the Mets.
Your point is you are a Mets fan?
The article isn’t about you.
Damn el kabong. Are you BlueSkiesLA’s burner? You both love to fight with everyone on this website and make dodger fans look bad
I responded to a strange comment.
In a strange way. Maybe you should take a break. This is just baseball, no need to make it personal
I thought his reply was well within the parameters of the op comment and mine. Maybe you shouldn’t take comments personal.
It wasn’t directed at me so I didn’t take it personally but he made it personal about the person they were responding to be using the word “you”
I’m sorry you struggle with reading comprehension nonchalanto
Lindor has a larger, valid point though-present day Seattle is largely a city of transplants. The team has not done very much to get transplanted baseball fans to change allegiances.
I’m guessing the incentives could reach 11.25m, so that if he performs well enough (with the buyout of 750k on the 12m option) he can still get the 12m value for 2025. I like the 7m base.
Under the CBA incentives can’t be performance-related, they’re basically tied to playing time. So he needs to stay healthy.
They may as well have signed Kim. Not much difference monetarily and Kim is way better
Well, he’s a good bounce back candidate. I still like Brendan Rodgers more, but I’m okay with this.
Getting the band back together. Sad trombone is now in the fold.
Why not trade for Lux like the reds did certainly much cheaper with better production
Gavin Lux was mostly a disappointment with the Dodgers (though their standards are pretty high). If you subtract 20 points or so from his average due to playing in Seattle, he’s no prize.
More concerning would be the fact that he hasn’t played third base. Well, he tried a couple times. His major league experience was part of one game. He made two assists and had two errors.
He did a little better in the minors: parts of 4 games, 5 assists, 1 error.
But last year the Dodgers had to move him to second base because he somehow lost his ability to play shortstop. That doesn’t make me think he would do well throwing from third.
I was hoping they would bring him back on a one year deal. He was fine after recovering from his injury. As far as 3rd base goes? OK?
Not ok for him on the roster at all…
Because this worked out so well last season…
If Solano plays half as well as he did last year, and Polanco plays half as well as he did in 2023, and Garver plays even less than half as well as he did in 2023, and Haniger, Crawford, Arozarena, Julio, and Raley play just a little better than they did last year, and Raleigh is around as good as he was last year, and since we have just about the same pitching staff, the Mariners could beat the very much depleted (unless the resign Bregman) Astros, the improved A’s and Angels, and the depleted Rangers, and win the AL West by a game or two. Literally, everyone should suck just enough, and the Mariners should be just a tiny bit better than last year, to help the Mariners to an AL West title. What? We can all hope…
If, if, if and if all that happens. You guys might make the playoffs. Thank god the AL west is looking bad this year compared to past seasons
Maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe…The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over expecting different results…The Mariner management is definitely insane!
Not even slightly insane. The franchise is run like a business setting out to make profit. If anything, they are genius. They don’t have to change anything about their cash cow because fans will not leave & follow another team. Ownership laughs all the way to the bank.
Well I understand that they are in it for a profit and found their demographic which are families who go to giveaway and fireworks nights and sell the fans on chasing the carrot of next year every year but team owners of any sport OWE it to the fans to put a championship contender on the field as best they can and as the only team who has never been to a world series fans need to demand better by not supporting this ridiculousness and mediocrity…Following a team should be enjoyable not frustrating
And IF my aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle. If is the biggest two-letter word in the English language.
Nope, she/he would fall under one of the 78 genders.
It’s a lot of ifs but you’re also not wrong
And if we all hit the lottery on the same day……
What a terrible signing.
Unless surprises happen in Peoria, that puts DMo back on the bench (and still get 350+ AB) and Shenton back to Tacoma. Bliss has 2B and Raley/Polanco at 1B. Still one batter short if Haniger’s the DH. Too-early prediction: 86-76. One game out of the playoffs (aka Purgatory).
82-80 at best…
Haniger should not be DH. Wouldn’t it be great to have a DH who can actually hit?
Bliss doesn’t have 2B locked up at all.
He doesn’t but at this point he is probably in the driver seat for the role.
Put the old guy at DH and occasionally fill in somewhere, give him plenty of rest and hope the dead cat bounce gets his 115 OPS+ back for 6 months.
No, Moore and Solano will likely get the linon’s share of PAs at second base. Bliss isn’t likely going to be handed second. He should have to earn it.
He was behind Rivas on the depth charts last year and didn’t dominate AAA.
Solano seems to be the 1B platoon partner to Raley. He’s only played 3 innings of 2B over the last few seasons. Moore is best suited as a supersub, spelling everyone. They tried him as an everyday 2B a few years back and didn’t impress. Finally, they wanted Bliss to get everyday at-bats in Tacoma, which was why an older Rivas was brought up to replace (and I think we all can appreciate the irony of this) Polanco.
I think they’d love it if Bliss could take control of the position, at least until they bring up Young.
They didn’t bring in Solano at 3.5m to just be a platoon partner for Raley. He’ll play some third and second, and he’ll probably DH a little, too.
Again, Bliss didn’t dominate AAA. And he was behind Rivas in depth when both were on the team. Sure, he’ll get an opportunity in spring to earn playing time, but I don’t think he’s even a lock for the active roster.
Nobody has impressed at 2B since Cano was on the team. Moore is most valuable in a utility role, but he was better than JP playing SS last year. He’s almost certainly going to play 2B more frequently, at least to start the season.
Seattle, where hitters go to die.
I don’t know what to say anymore. This is how you spend your offseason? DESPERATELY NEEDING HITTING to build on and along with one of the best rotations in baseball? You have a chance to make the jump with this rotation and you bring back the same guy who was a huge part of your hitting woes this past season? You also tell me you are going to play him at 3b so that means you are going to platoon Moore and Bliss at second and you are done. This is the team? This is the money you spend after the rebuild and a promise of we will spend when we are close? WE ARE CLOSE and YOU ARE CHEAP JOHN STANTON. This is really it??? These are our off season moves?
Oh, we haven’t any money, so we operate like the Guardians on Valium and Thunderbird.
Mostly Thunderbird… A lot of it.
Moore was already slated for a 2B platoon by almost every sports media outlet on the planet. And now it seems as if Raley and Solano will split 1B.
I really wish Jerry would quit with the advanced metrics crap and just let dudes get in a groove and play every day.
We saw a set lineup vs. RHPs a couple of weeks after Edgar and Wilson came into the fold and the results were positive. It was just too little, too late.
But with no clear answer for second base or DH, and the likeliness of having a bench player or two who shouldn’t be on the roster, it’s easy to see more tinkering, primarily at the bottom of the order.
Breathe bro…
Show me the list of hitters lining up to come to Seattle and then you can call ownership cheap
Everyone agrees that you need to overpay to get bats here. History has shown no matter what you pay they’ll be a shell of themselves. That’s not smart business.
I am not your Bro. You can make offers to more quality hitters, you can TRY more than they have. I don’t mean 6 year/$180 Million either. I am frustrated that they have not been able to pull off a trade or two that lengthens the line-up but I will admit that I don’t know whether they have tried harder at that. I hope that they still add a 2b and or 3b of quality and lengthen this line-up. Even a 1st basemen, they still need a DH….I still would like Nico Hoerner, Yandy Diaz, B. lowe, Willy Castro or even Bohm in a trade if it is possible.
Now do your homework and see which of them has a history of hitting in T Mobile. You’ve made your fantasy baseball pitch now put some thought into it.
Come on, do better. That sample size is not the most important aspect, Really? How many times has Nico Horner played in T Mobile? Hardly at all. They all put the ball in play more than the players we currently have at that those positions. They are an upgrade. to what we currently have at 2b, 3b, 1b or DH.
Ok I’ll do better. Make a list of FA or traded players who’ve come to Seattle and succeeded. Now make a list of the players who’ve not succeeded. Which list is 4 times longer than the other? Exactly right. Take it a step further make a list of players who’ve left Seattle and found their form again. Even that list is longer than the successes. Fail to learn from history and you’re doomed to repeat it.
Players who get traded to another team don’t have a choice. Every player that I listed would come to the Mariners via a trade. You have to keep attempting to make your team better. Just because it is a tough place to hit doesn’t mean you don’t try and get the best hitters possible and improve your team. You like to coming to these sites, read how people feel about their teams and then give them crap from behind your computer? Good for you. Coward.
It’s my team we’re talking about I’m just not taking the fanboy approach to the situation and calling someone a coward right after saying from behind your computer is the most laughable self own in a while lol thanks for that one
PS thanks for the “players who get traded don’t have a choice” tidbit you really reached deep into the well for that piece of obvious knowledge.
While i dont think he will rebound greatly, i am even more skeptical of him playibg 3b
Agreed. Seems ridiculous. Polanco’s arm grades as about the weakest in the game.
LFG!!! I like it
When Houston started showing interest in him I started hoping for this!
They’re counting on last year being the result of his injury. Let’s hope.
I’m not sanguine. These sort of hopes never work out for the Mariners.
Gonna need a lot of miracles needed, at the corner of Edgar and Dave.
He can’t be any worse than he was last year, right?
It can always be worse
Because you typed that, he’ll sprain his left testicle in ST and miss the season probably
I don’t know why, but I have a good feeling about this.
The only thing worse than Mariners fans perception of John Stanton is what Mariners fans are in reality.
The good news is we haven’t traded away any of our starting pitchers or elite prospects. I doubt any of the remaining free agents would move the needle enough to get us into the World Series. Would a first round exit from the playoffs be satisfying?
Did they sneak in with 86 wins and an anemic offense, or did they win 95 games and the AL West with a major trade deadline acquisition like Vlad?
Does Vlad make them 9 games better in 2 months? No
TheGr8One, the idea in that specific scenario is things are already going well when they get Vlad.
Makes zero sense either way you explained it.
Not my fault you’re not very good at reading comprehension.
Baseball teams have a range of possible outcomes.
1) M’s could be similar to last year, in which case making the playoffs and losing quickly would make fans remember how cheap the off-season was.
2) M’s could exceed expectations, and play 95-win ball all season with a comfy lead. At the deadline, the M’s ownership invests prospects and money for a star like Vlad. Unfortunately, luck sucks and M’s lose quickly. Fewer people are likely to be upset.
Any scenario where they underperform is irrelevant to the original question.
much more satisfying than missing by one game….again.
It’ll probably turn out that you should have if you don’t. With what Seattle could get for 1 of those guys, you could easily find a back of the rotation starter, heavily improve the offense and still have 4 really good starters.
I can’t believe some people are cool with this.
The potential incentives likely wrap up whatever dough is leftover, so the odds of another addition aren’t good.
But hey, this gives us a good reason to drink over the weekend.
No one’s cool with it. It does seem to be one of the best options left on the board for a team too cheap to sign Bregman or Alonso.
I would rather have Moncada or even Madrigal as free agents, but of course trade would be the preferred route.
Absolute failure of an offseason.
Arguably worse than the 2023 offseason, following their first post season appearance in 21 years.
This is beyond maddening.
Complete the circle and bring back Ty France! Hahhahahahahaha
Mariners get Solano and Polanco for less than they were initially slated to pay for Polanco.
Will it amount to anything? Probably not; but with this budget, ever penny counts.
I think the pennies are the only thing that counts for this ownership
As a mariners fan my reaction to this is …Woopdy-doo
Seattle did nothing to help themselves this off season. It’s hard to respect a team that has a chance to win and does nothing to address their needs in the off season. The same with my own team, the orioles. The Orioles might have made some more moves but they were incredibly mediocre. It’s crazy because Seattle is my 2nd favorite team behind the Os, and both teams don’t know how to win.
The national baseball pundits claim the Orioles cling too tightly to their prospects. Or, maybe they’re just playing the long game & counting on them developing into good/great players.
One of them holds the single season win record and doesn’t know how to win?
And this site said cronenworth was worth 2-3m a year.
What a joke
Polanco was 12/31 last 8 games with a 7-game hit streak(6 of those games were on the Road, tho) and Struckout only 5 times vs 3 Walks! Sure it’s a small sample, but it was about his best looking run all season and it just happened to be one month AFTER Edgar was hired on as hitting coach…might be something there!
The expectation level on this guy is about 1 and a half on a 1-10 scale if you’re a Mariner Fan, so I think this guy can easily surpass his expectation and give him a chance to bounce-back here in Seattle, rather than going to the Dodgers or something(Teo) and having his bounce-back year somewhere else, Like most Ex-Mariners end up doing! Still GO M’s!!!
And for the 22 games after Edgar stepped in and before those final 8 games, he hit .107 with a 25.6 K% and a 29 wRC+.
There’s no way to sugarcoat his 2024.
With their pitching, the M’s should bring in the fences.
Already did that once, might not want to tempt fate any further.
They would be better off shortening some places and expanding others. Safeco could use more quirks: worst park for doubles and triples.
Polanco got better in secon half, I mean that’s a positive right? For both sides, sometimes it’s better to go with the devil you know.
My guess is that Cal Raleigh will not sign an extention with the Mariners. He is the heartbeat of this team and after his three years of arbitration, he is gone. So we have a three year window to compete. If we don’t spend any money or improve this offense significantly, I am done with this team and ownership. We have a solid core to build around, we don’t have the time for the next wave of of prospects to pan out. I went to my first game in 1987 in the Kingdome at the age of 11. Been a fan for a long time and getting tired.
Fans threaten to leave, but do they ever? They still follow & feel better about themselves by not attending games or buying merch. The problem is, the casual fan will never stop attending. The cash cow will continue unabated. I’ll see you next year complaining & threatening to be done with this franchise, and again the following year.
ck420: it’s why the M’s will trade Raleigh sooner than you think I think he’s gone as soon as Ford is deemed ready.
Raleigh is going to be 31 when he’s eligible for free agency, How banged up is he going to be? Do we want to extend him? He’s not going to be cheap assuming he stays healthy to begin with, and he may be just a DH at that point. I’m not sold on extending him.
Great Move!! Go M’s!!!! I fully support the current regime!
Polanco should provide a nice upgrade over Polanco!
Looks like they are really going for it this year! Excited to buy tickets and purchase hotdogs and beer!
(wait…this isn’t LookOut Landing where toeing the approved party line is apparently a posting requirement…..)
Seattle fans deserve better than this.
He will be at best a bottom 5 defensive 3rd Baseman. I hate this move and would’ve rather kept Rojas.
Polanco signed with Seattle because it’s his best chance to get regular plate appearances, I would bet.
It’s hard to bounceback at T-Mobile park. It’s nearly impossible to bounceback from the bench or AAA.
This move doesn’t preclude Seattle from adding an additional player to the 2B mix on either a minor league deal or one year pillow contract. Brandon Drury on the former or Brendan Rodgers on the latter could still work for the Mariners
I thought they’d bring back Justin Turner first. There’s still time
Trade Issac Paredes back to Cubs for OF Owen Caissie, top LH bat in Cubs system- ready to play in MLB in 2025. Frees up another $6MM in cash for Bregman. Possible advantage Cubs but if Bregman is so critical to Astros, it’s an eloquent solution
Cubs would not do that lol
THE MARINERS ARE RUINING BASEBALL!
I crave a major trade! I know Dipoto does too.
1. Fire Justin Hollander
2. Go get Luis Roberts.
If We got the #1 farm system then part with a handful for him
3. Move on the left field and center field fence
Polanco is fine. I think our whole team suffered with the hitting philosophy coach thing they had last year.
We had down years from everybody on our team
ok
Nice to know that the season is over now rather than wasting my summer on this team until the middle of August when they usually fall out of it. I can go focus on other things!
This probably takes the Mariners out of the running for Arenado, even if he is willing to expand his acceptable destination list to include Seattle.
If they could pull that off, this pickup suddenly makes alot more sense. Only way they do that is if they can dump the Mitches as part of thar, unless there’s some sudden change of heart on payroll.
They were never in the running for Arenado.
If they had added an actual 3B, maybe bringing Polanco back into the fold made sense, but moving him to 3B is really weird. Would love to keep Dylan Moore as our sub/backup and not rely on him in a full time role, assuming that’s what they do. I’d rate this off-season “WTF?!” Based on the moves so far.
DMo likely is going to start the year as the main 2B, at the very least they view him as part of a platoon with Bliss/Rivas for the first couple of months. I think they want to plug Cole Yoing in there by midseason, so they’re banking on him beating down the door in the spring/first half.
That would be contingent on Young being ready by then which is possible but seems like quite a gamble, although relying on Moore to start the season makes perfect sense if thats the plan.
Considering that they haven’t even done the bare minimum to fill their holes this winter they may have to rely on developing some rookies. Polanco is made of glass, and Solano’s been a part time player since the start of his career. I have a hard time penciling them in for much more than 100-110 games each and that’s being optimistic. We’re going to see a pile of utility players again, and maybe they promote Young or Ford (or both!) to MLB if they’re any good in AA/AAA.
Hopefully this is not just make up sex for the Mariners. It’s like breaking up with your girlfriend because you think she is too fat, then getting back together again with her because nobody else will sleep with you.
You hit the nail right on the head.. Makes you wonder if their even was a plan to improve the roster? This offence gets worse by the year!
Jerry Dipoto texted “You up?” to Polanco at 2AM.
Polanco is the one who lost money on this deal. Guess she was fat after all.
Mitch and Mitch plus Jerry the Trader have a contract for this year only, then they are gone…Stanton will get a new player acquisition manager for his Dollar Store team and the churn will continue
Jerry isn’t going anywhere. His job is to keep the team above .500 without breaking the bank so they can sell enough tickets to stay profitable. He’s done that more often than not in his 10 years here.
Yeah, I feel management is doing exactly what ownership wants. As long as profits are healthy and nobody does anything too stupid, management is likely safe.
I don’t think Jerry gets fired after this year. Maybe if they really tank.
I think each year will get tighter and tighter budget wise if the expect to play all the players increases in arbitration.
Something will have to give
Seems okay for the money. I think the larger issue is the overall payroll.
Entering his age 31 season, he won’t need to move as much playing 3B. “Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt!”
Cigars being the breakfast bar of choice is why it’s difficult taking the Mariners seriously. Not anymore, but remember when DR players lied about their age?
Now that there is a trade war between Canada and the USA with a shifting Canadian dollar, people that go down to Seattle games may think twice and could affect Mariners finances
Wow. A full no trade clause for the entire upcoming season?!
Guy’s gonna rake the forest up in Seattle.
Why wouldn’t they go after Kim? He’s way better and wasn’t that expensive.
Polanco has hit in the Seattle ballpark.