SEATTLE -- Jorge Polanco , as expected, has declined a $6 million vesting player option for 2026 and will become a free agent, the Mariners announced on Wednesday.

However, there will be interest from the Mariners to bring back the 32-year-old second baseman and designated hitter after his resounding turnaround in 2025 .

Polanco had achieved the vesting option for accumulating 450 plate appearances, a threshold that was tied to the one-year, $7 million contract he signed in January to build in incentive toward his health, having undergone surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee last October. Also tied into that deal was a $750,000 buyout.

The knee issue was one he battled throughout his first season in Seattle, in 2024, and the way he bounced back was one of the Marin

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