Yankees passing on Mariners playoff hero in free agency helped ignite Seattle run

There was a moment midway through the New York Yankees' pursuit of Plan B where it seemed as if the most elegant infield solution involved sliding Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to third base and signing a second baseman nobody was that enthused by, mainly to keep him away from the Astros.

Swiftly, it turned out that we didn't know what we thought we knew. No, Jorge Polanco wasn't choosing between similar offers from the Yankees and Astros. In fact, he was preparing to return to Seattle, where he'd had an injury-marred 2024 season in a home ballpark that didn't seem to agree with him.

"As they sort through options following the departure of Gleyber Torres, the Yankees have checked in on 11-year pro Jorge Polanco," wrote Mark Sanchez (no, not that one) of the New York Post on Jan. 7. An above-average hitter nearly every year of his career until 2024, Polanco's "Yankees career" already felt written in the stars. If the Bronx Bombers chose him, his OPS+ would be nestled in the low 90s again, buoyed by a couple of porch jobs. If he went to the Astros, he'd help erase the departures of Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa (lol, anyway, he came back).

If he went to the Mariners? Well, that meant that the Yankees' and Astros' offers weren't that serious, and the well had run dry — or so we thought.

As it turns out, Polanco's knee got healthy, he resumed his career-long trend of hitting in the clutch (.306 with an .883 OPS all time), then evolved into the Ultimate Warrior when the October bell rang.

Yankees couldn't work out free agent deal with Mariners playoff hero Jorge Polanco

Would the Yankees' season have turned out differently with Chisholm Jr. forced into an incorrectly sized hole at third base and Polanco installed at second? It would've been inelegant at best, but you could see the vision.

Thankfully, he landed somewhere comfortable, as well as somewhere where his success can't be too frustrating to fans in the Bronx. His 26 regular-season blasts (134 OPS+!) have somehow been dwarfed already by his walk-off single off Tommy Kahnle that sent Seattle marching on to Toronto, followed by a .444 average in those two blistering Mariners wins on Canadian turf.

There was one thing we were right about, though. There certainly was a reason to worry if he'd gone to Houston. Instead, he reshaped the AL West in his image, and has continued to pillage a path through the playoffs. If both Championship Series leads hold, he might have the nation's David vs. Goliath hopes resting on his shoulders against the Dodgers. No pressure.