Mariners infielder Jorge Polanco took his 450th plate appearance of the 2025 season during tonight’s 10-2 win over the Braves, and in doing so he unlocked a player option for the 2026 campaign. Come November, Polanco will now have the opportunity to either return to free agency or stick with Seattle by picking up that option, which is worth $6MM with a $750K buyout. He also unlocked an additional $500K to his incentives added to his salary for the 2025 season by reaching 450 plate appearances this evening.
Polanco, 32, had his $12MM club option declined by the Mariners last offseason in favor of a $750K buyout after he underwent surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee last offseason. He lingered on the open market until February before finally re-signing with Seattle on a one-year deal that guaranteed him $7.75MM between his base salary and the aforementioned buyout on what was then a mutual option. He’s played enough to not only vest that option but also add $2.5MM to his base salary via plate appearance incentives, including the $500K he added today.
That success in terms of staying on the field has been paired with fairly strong production from the veteran. He’s slashing .257/.324/.473 across his 450 trips to the plate after tonight’s game, good for a 125 wRC+ that would actually be the best offensive line of his career. He’s crushed 23 homers, his highest total since 2021, and has done so while striking out just 15.7% of the time. Only 29 qualified hitters have a lower strikeout rate than Polanco this year, and among that group only Jose Ramirez, Cody Bellinger, and Ketel Marte have hit more home runs.
That combination of pop and contact would easily be enough to make Polanco a three-to-four win player if he was playing the infield regularly, even despite his lackluster glove on the infield. He’s primarily served as Seattle’s DH this year, however. Some of that has been due to his recovery from last offseason’s knee surgery and other day-to-day ailments he’s dealt with throughout the year, and part of it is also due to the emergence of top prospect Cole Young at second base and the club’s decision to trade for Eugenio Suarez to man the hot corner. Whatever the reason, Polanco has just 30 appearances in the field (mostly at second base, with brief cameos at both first and third) this season, including just 26 starts.
Even without Polanco playing the field very often, it seems likely that he’ll decline his player option in favor of testing free agency. After all, Polanco landed a larger guarantee than the $5.25MM decision he’ll be making last offseason, coming off a down season where he hit just .213/.296/.355 (92 wRC+) in 118 games. He seems fairly likely to do a good bit better on the market this year. Gleyber Torres is the top name on the second base market this year, with Willi Castro, Amed Rosario, and Luis Rengifo among a handful of utility types also slated to hit free agency this winter. While names like Suarez, Alex Bregman, and Bo Bichette will steal most of the attention among infielders, a well-above average switch hitter like Polanco should get plenty of interest even if viewed as a DH. If viewed as a DH, Polanco would likely join Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna among the second tier of options at the position behind top slugger Kyle Schwarber.
While Polanco is seemingly poised to decline his option in favor of free agency this winter, it ought to be noted that the option does offer him some protection against an injury cropping up that would impact his market. With that being said, it must be noted that Polanco’s contract with Seattle contains language that would block his player option from kicking in if he suffers a lower-half injury that would impact his availability for the start of the 2026 season. Even with that language limiting the scope of his injury protection, however, it’s surely a relief for Polanco to know that he has a contract more or less guaranteed for next season if he wants it.
