The Seattle Mariners didn’t lose Jorge Polanco by accident. They allowed him to walk by design.
This distinction matters because the consequences of that decision are already visible—on the roster sheet, in the lineup’s balance, and in how the organization is choosing to shape the 2026 season.
Polanco’s departure following the 2025 season was not about doubt in the player. It was about cost tolerance. After a full rebound year in which the 32-year-old veteran second baseman re-established himself as a middle-of-the-order force, the Mariners faced a familiar decision to either pay market value for proven production or pivot toward youth and flexibility. They chose the latter even as the former found a willing buyer.
The New York Mets signed Polanco to a two-year, $40 million deal on December 13, 2025, entrusting him with a hybrid first base and designated hitter role after Pete Alonso’s exit. From the Mets’ perspective, the move was straightforward. Polanco had just posted a .821 OPS with 26 home runs while helping lead Seattle’s offense through a deep postseason run. New York paid a premium for Polanco's switch-hit power, positional adaptability, and recent October success.
Seattle, meanwhile, recalibrated.
The Mariners had already won once on the infielder by declining his $12 million option after the 2024 season, then bringing him back on a lower-cost prove-it deal for 2025. That gamble paid off emphatically. Polanco stayed healthy, played 138 games, and delivered the most productive season of his Mariners tenure. He also authored one of the defining moments of the franchise’s postseason, driving in the decisive run in the 15th inning for Seattle in ALDS Game 5 vs. the Detroit Tigers.
That version of Polanco, the reliable bat who answers pressure, was precisely the player Seattle opted not to retain.
Instead, the front office redirected resources toward roster depth and long-term development. On Monday, the Mariners acquired Brendan Donovan in a three-team trade involving the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Louis Cardinals, pairing him with top prospect Cole Young as the projected second-base solution entering spring training. From a balance-sheet standpoint, the logic holds. Donovan brings versatility and on-base skills at a fraction of Polanco’s annual cost, while Young represents a cornerstone of the next competitive window.
From a lineup-construction standpoint, the risk is obvious.
Polanco’s switch-hitting profile insulated Seattle against matchup manipulation. In 2025, he punished both left-handed and right-handed pitching, forcing opposing managers to think twice before deploying late-inning specialists. That flexibility is gone. Donovan and Young both hit left-handed, creating a natural vulnerability that did not exist a season ago, particularly in high-leverage postseason environments where platoon advantages are magnified.
The production gap is just as real. Replacing 26 home runs and 78 runs batted in is not a theoretical exercise. It’s a nightly requirement. Seattle is betting that aggregate output—from a contact-oriented utility bat and a developing rookie—can approximate what one proven switch-hitter reliably delivered. That is not impossible. It is, however, uncertain.
This is where the Polanco decision ultimately lands. The Mariners did not misjudge the player. The market validated his value immediately. They simply chose not to pay it, prioritizing payroll elasticity and developmental upside over continuity.
Whether that restraint proves prudent or costly won't be determined in February. It will be decided late in games, against elite pitching, when lineup balance and postseason experience matter most. In 2025, the Mariners had a hitter built for those moments. They're asking two more people to mature into them in 2026.
