Jorge Polanco’s 2025 option is declined, Luis Urías waived by Mariners
Seattle’s 2024 infield moves make their way out the door.
The Seattle Mariners announced Friday that they have declined the 2025 team option on INF Jorge Polanco, and that INF Luis Urías has cleared waivers and elected free agency.
Polanco is due $750,000 from Seattle as a result of the decision, as the buyout cost for what would have otherwise been a $12 million sum for the 31 year old’s next season. Polanco was reported recently to have played through injury for much of the 2024 campaign, having missed time with a hamstring injury in the first half of the season before sustaining a knee injury that required postseason surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. Polanco’s performance while playing through the injury was brutal, and his disappointing play fell well short of expectations, leading to Seattle declining what was a potentially reasonable rate for his services given his career numbers. The .213/.296/.355 lines were all career lows in full years for Polo (and only in the shortened 2020 season did he post a .354 slugging line), and his 92 wRC+ could not compensate for increasingly diminished defensive range. Better health hopefully awaits for the veteran, but it will likely need to come on a bounce-back deal elsewhere.
Urías also struggled in Seattle. Brought in from the Red Sox in a surprising deal for RHP Isaiah Campbell last winter, Urías was meant to form a platoon with INF Josh Rojas at 3B across from Polanco. However, the righty struggled defensively, and while his small sample power propped up some of his overall numbers (e.g. a 107 wRC+ in 109 PA), striking out nearly a third of the time and struggling to make contact consistently placed the 27 year old on the outs, as did some mental miscues. By waiving and cutting the 27 year old, Seattle will not go to arbitration with him, meaning no money is owed moving forward. He’s a candidate for a minor league spot on a thin infield elsewhere.
The 40-man roster is now at 36.