Mariners have important decision to make on Jorge Polanco

While Jorge Polanco undoubtedly struggled in 2024, a recent health update means the Mariners might do well to give him another chance.

It’s more than fair to say things didn’t go quite to plan for the Seattle Mariners this past season, when it came to their offseason trade acquisition of Jorge Polanco. Expected to provide a significant boost to the lineup, he instead had an extremely disappointing 2024 at the plate.

When it was all said and done, Polanco had his worst ever offensive season in the Majors. Literally. We’re talking a whole host of career lows effectively across his stat line, including a.213 batting average, .296 OBP and .651 OPS.

As a result, the 2019 All-Star’s future in Seattle is very much up in the air, and understandably so. The Mariners hold a $12 million club option for him and must decide by early November whether to pick it up, or pay the $750,000 buyout fee.

Certainly, there are plenty who believe the Mariners would be best served severing ties with Polanco. However, another factor has now come into play, which could — at least theoretically — change this line of thinking.

Ongoing knee issues for Polanco

As per a recent report from ESPN‘s Jeff Passan, Polanco underwent surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee. Passan went on to add that sources told him, that the infielder is expected to be ready to go by the beginning of spring training.

It turns out that knee issues have been a problem for the 31-year-old in general during recent seasons. This contributed to him being limited to 104 games in 2022 and just 80 a year later.

However, the matter became even worse during this past campaign with the Mariners, as Polanco attempted to play through his knee problems. Unfortunately for everyone concerned, the pain got worse, leading to his aforementioned poor production at the plate.

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Which way will the Mariners swing?

Armed with this additional information, the Mariners have to decide if Polanco will go back to being the offensive player he has been for the majority of his time in the Majors. For his career he has a .263/.330/.435 slash line and .765 OPS; it would clearly help the M’s if he can return anywhere close to this level.

One final factor to consider, is the financial implications. However, we wouldn’t envision this being an issue, as the former Minnesota Twins’ $12 million salary for next year would only be marginally higher than the $10.5 million he received this year.

From our perspective, we would lean towards giving Polanco another chance in Seattle, especially if his surgery is indeed successful in getting him closer to full health. We are encouraged by how he was prepared to battle through his knee pain in order to (try and) help the Mariners, and that type of dedication and commitment are attributes which should help the ball club in 2025.

If you’re in the Mariners’ shoes, what are you doing with Polanco? Do you pick up his club option, or let him walk? Let us know in the comments section below.