The Seattle Mariners and the Minnesota Twins are trading for 2B Jorge Polanco, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. According to his colleague Kiley Mcdaniel, Seattle is sending two major leaguers, Justin Topa and Anthony DeSclafani, along with two minor leaguers, OF Gabriel Gonzalez and RHP Darren Bowen, back to Minnesota.
After entering the team with minimal anticipation and developing into a vital member of the 2023 bullpen, Topa leaves a void in the bullpen. Arriving as part of the compensation offset for selling Robbie Ray to the San Francisco Giants earlier this winter, DeSclafani is a straight salary dump. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, his pay almost makes up for Polanco’s, but Seattle will send a little amount to Minnesota to make up the difference.
MLB righties Anthony DeSclafani and Justin Topa along with prospects OF Gabriel Gonzalez and RHP Darren Bowen is the four player return for Polanco, per sources. Believe cash is also involved. https://t.co/GQDKtwaogh
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) January 30, 2024
The two prospects are minor league RHP Darren Bowen, who had a stellar season last year and was perhaps the team’s top pitching prospect in the minors, and Gonzalez, who broke into several Top-100 lists this winter, ranking 79th on MLB Pipeline’s list. Gonzalez is a promising young player with steady performance traits. If he can develop more game power, his spray contact abilities as a corner outfielder should carry him. One of the best pitches in the system was Bowen’s sweeping slider, which was a bright spot for the M’s in the low to mid levels, where they currently have few pitching prospects, despite the fact that Seattle chose to use its draft picks to acquire many talented prep position players.
But there is a chance that the return will be substantial. At the age of 25, Jorge Polanco made an All-Star team in 2019 and has been a vital part of the best Minnesota Twins teams in the past few seasons. The switch-hitting Dominican has a $10.5 million deal through 2024 and a $12 million team option through 2025 with a pitiful $750k buyout.
Polanco has played much of his career for a club as an all-around contact hitter, with a career wRC+ of 118 against RHP and 96 against LHP showing that his bat is most effective against righties. With a career line of.269/.334/.446 and 111 wRC+ upon reaching his age-His 30 season demonstrates his consistent quality on the field, and his ZiPS, Steamer, and PECOTA predictions all fall within the range of an above-average middle infielder. Logic and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times both predict that he will start at second base for the Mariners.
This gives Josh Rojas and Luis UrÃas the chance to platoon at third base, strengthening the depth of the squad and providing Seattle with a man who projects to be a 2-3 win starter, should they decide to stop their movements there. Although Polanco has lost some time over the last two seasons, he has previously played numerous full seasons without injury and is expected to be Seattle’s best full-time second baseman in some time.
