SEATTLE -- The Mariners will spend another offseason attempting to finally solve their second base problem, as the club on Friday announced that it declined its $12 million option on veteran Jorge Polanco, who will instead receive a $750,000 buyout and become a free agent.

Additionally, the team announced that infielder Luis Urías had cleared waivers and elected free agency, trimming its 40-man roster to 36.

Neither transaction was a surprise.

Polanco, who turns 32 on July 5, recently underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair damage to the patellar tendon in his left knee. The injury had lingered for a significant chunk of the season, impacting both his bat and glove. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the procedure was performed by Dr. Dan Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys' orthopedist.

The knee issue certainly impacted the switch-hitter's production -- especially when swinging from the left side -- and played a part in Polanco, who earned $10.5 million in 2024, hitting for a career-low .651 OPS across 118 games. His struggles were so pronounced at one point that his playing time was significantly curbed, and it appeared that the club might designate him for assignment near the All-Star break. He wound up turning things around, though, posting a .724 OPS and hitting 11 of his 16 homers in 63 games from July 9 on.

Overall, Polanco slashed .213/.296/.355 with a career-high 29.2% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate, worth 92 wRC+ (league average is 100) and 0.3 WAR, per FanGraphs.

Polanco was acquired from the Twins in January in exchange for four players, headlined by high-leverage reliever Justin Topa, with hopes that he’d turn into a middle-of-the-order force and solidify a position that has been arguably the Mariners’ least productive since Robinson Canó left the organization after the 2018 season. Polanco joins Adam Frazier and Kolten Wong as established veterans elsewhere who struggled to find their footing at second base with Seattle.

Cole Young, Seattle’s No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 38 overall, is expected to be the club’s second baseman of the future. But the 2022 first-round Draft pick likely won’t be big league ready until 2026, having spent all of last year with Double-A Arkansas, where he slashed .271/.369/.390 (.759 OPS) with nine homers and 57 RBIs.

The infield already looked like it’d be the clearest areas for president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander to upgrade this offseason, and that’ll be particularly true now that Polanco is gone. At the top of the depth chart at second base would be some combination of Ryan Bliss, Leo Rivas and Dylan Moore, who formed a platoon at third base down the stretch with lefty-hitting Josh Rojas.

That platoon at third was initially slated for Urías, who was acquired from the Red Sox ahead of last offseason’s non-tender deadline in November and earned $5 million in 2024. Urías showed flashes of promise in April, but he wound up spending three months with Triple-A Tacoma after being demoted on May 24. He returned just before rosters expanded in September but played in only seven of the club’s final 27 games.

Overall, Urías slashed .191/.303/.394 (.697 OPS). If not for Friday’s transaction, he almost certainly would have been non-tendered ahead of the Nov. 19 deadline to do so.

Third base, too, is an area that on paper is a clear need for the Mariners to upgrade. Rojas, who emerged as one of the league’s better defenders at the position, was streaky in stretches at the plate, slashing .225/.304/.336 (.640 OPS) and rarely being used against lefties.

Dipoto hinted at the season’s end that there won’t be a massive roster overhaul this offseason. But Friday’s moves paved the way for his front office to address areas that were already expected to be positional needs.