Mariners' Jorge Polanco may have just punched his ticket out of Seattle

Over the weekend, Jorge Polanco reached 450 plate appearances for the 2025 season. It might not feel like a major milestone, but it is considering what it means for Polanco's status with the Seattle Mariners going into next season.

The one-year, $7.75 million deal Polanco signed in February featured a $6 million player option that would vest if he reached the 450 plate appearance plateau in 2025. Now that he's there, he will control his own destiny this offseason.

It's up to Jorge Polanco whether to return to the Mariners in 2026

He could still choose to return to Seattle, the team that gave him a second chance this offseason despite an abysmal 2024 campaign. Or he could decide to test free agency. That's probably the more likely outcome, considering Polanco's statistical success in 2025.

Polanco is slashing .258/.323/.479, good for an .802 OPS and a 128 OPS+, the best of his career. On a team full of players hitting massive career milestones, Polanco is very queitly having himself a career year.

He's also hit 24 home runs (the second-most in his career), driven in 66 runs, hit 18 doubles, and has been worth 1.9 bWAR as a primary DH.

Still just 31 years old, there is probably a team out there that would be willing to give Polanco a more enticing contract than the $6 million the Mariners would owe him if Polanco picks up the player option and decides to return to Seattle. If he rejects it, he'll get a $750,000 buyout.

Every team needs more bats, and Polanco has a good one for the most part. In his career, he has a total OPS+ of 111, meaning he is 11 percent better than the average major league hitter. He also just surpassed 20 career bWAR.

Unless Polanco has fallen in love with the city of Seattle and his teammates on the Mariners, there is a very good chance he will decline the option and sign elsewhere in 2026. It will leave the Mariners with a hole at DH to go along with their pending holes at the corners of the infield.