Jorge Polanco tipped to bolt Mariners, with reports linking him to a $42M deal in the NL .MH
In Major League Baseball’s free agency, nothing is guaranteed.
A team might love a player and want to keep him, but that doesn’t preclude another team stepping up and making a big-time offer. Conversely, a dead market can lead a team and player to stay together when it looked for all the world that they would split apart.
The latter happened last offseason with Jorge Polanco, who re-upped on a cheap one-year deal after a rough debut season with the Seattle Mariners. And somewhat unexpectedly, Polanco was brilliant at the plate, putting up a career-best 134 OPS+ in the regular season and coming up clutch in October.
Polanco predicted to land with Pittsburgh Pirates
Could the inverse of last offseason take place? That might entail Polanco signing with a team that might not typically spend big on free agents, but wants to make some kind of splash.
In MLB Trade Rumors’ annual free agency predictions article, Tim Dierkes predicted that the Pittsburgh Pirates would sign Polanco in what would qualify as an outright stunner. The site also projected that Polanco would command a three-year, $42 million deal.
“A late deal to re-sign Polanco was originally met with skepticism, but Polanco turned back the clock with a terrific regular season and routinely played the hero as the Mariners’ season pushed all the way to Game 7 of the ALCS,” an uncredited MLBTR contributor wrote.
“Polanco should find at least two years, if not three, in free agency. … Polanco’s market will be bolstered by the Mariners’ decision not to issue a qualifying offer.”
Two MLBTR contributors, Anthony Franco and Darragh McDonald, predicted instead that Polanco would return to the Mariners. Steve Adams chose the Kansas City Royals as the star’s next landing spot.
The Pirates haven’t signed a free agent for multiple seasons since Ivan Nova in December of 2016. But there have been rumblings that they could look to change that this offseason, and Polanco might fit into the category of free agents they could actually obtain, because there are real question marks accompanying his upside.
