The Seattle Mariners have officially made the first “big” move of the offseason.

After a lot of debate over whether or not the team would opt to bring him back due to his injury concerns, the Seattle Mariners declined the $12 million option of second baseman and 2019 All-Star Jorge Polanco on Friday.

Polanco will receive a $750,000 buyout from the Mariners due to the team declining his option. The team’s 40-man roster now stands at 36 players.

Seattle traded for Polanco from the Minnesota Twins on Jan. 29, 2024, in efforts to figure out the team’s perpetual hole at second base. The Mariners have been trying to find an answer at the position since trading Robinson Cano to the New York Mets back in 2018.

Polanco had a down season by all metrics, even though it wasn’t entirely his fault.

The 11-year MLB veteran was dealing with a nagging knee injury for the second half of the season and had a stint on the 10-day injured list earlier in the year with a hamstring injury.

Polanco underwent surgery to repair a damaged patellar tendon after the season ended.

Polanco averaged just .213 this year with 16 home runs and 45 RBIs. His defense also took a noticeable step back.

Polanco had -10 outs above average, which ranks in just the second percentile in the league according to Baseball Savant.

Polanco is a switch-hitter with 20-home run power. He was reported to be ready to return by spring training after his surgery.

Seattle will now look to find an answer at second base while Polanco will try and find a new home.

The Mariners have several avenues they can explore to fill out the gap at second base. And time will tell if one of those avenues includes going after a free agent or pulling off a trade.

MARINERS HAVE TOP-TEN ODDS TO LAND JUAN SOTO, PER SPORTS BETTING SITE: The Seattle Mariners landed on the list to land the biggest superstar in free agency per a popular sports betting site. CLICK HERE

EIGHT-TIME ALL-STAR LINKED TO MARINERS: The St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners have been tied together in trade rumors for months, could both sides finally pull the trigger? CLICK HERE

MARINERS MAKE MOVES TO TOP BRASS: The Seattle Mariners continued to make some moves in their top brass with the promotion of a long-time employee on Thursday. CLICK HERE

Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on “X” @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady. You can subscribe to the “Refuse to Lose” podcast by clicking HERE.

SEATTLE – A single mom is asking the community for help after thieves made off with her family’s only vehicle just before Halloween. 

The ghastly deed left her without wheels to take her daughter trick-or-treating.

But, perhaps the worst trick of all, the thieves also made off with her ID, laptop, and sentimental items she had stored in the trunk.  

Ashley Nygren-Yee has three jobs. During the week, she works at a Seattle funeral home. She often finds some moments of peace by walking through the graveyard. 

“I like it because it’s really peaceful. It’s a break from the city life. You get to observe the nature around you,” said Nygren-Yee. “You hear the crows, sometimes you see coyotes out here.”

For Nygren-Yee, it’s not the dead that are the problem this Halloween, but the living. 

“It’s like once I feel like I’m a step ahead, something or someone, the living knocks me back down,” she said. “The dead are absolutely not the problem.”

Early Wednesday, someone stole her Volkswagen Passat sedan as it sat parked in front of her apartment complex off of NE 125th Street in Seattle. The car is pictured below:

“I came outside my kitchen door and my car was not there, all that was left was a dry spot where my car had been,” she said.  

Ashley used the car daily to commute and take her daughter Anya to daycare.

“I’m a single mom living in Seattle, and I’m pregnant. And, it just feels like every single day I’m working hard to provide for my family,” said Nygren-Yee. 

She now has to take the bus there on an hour-long commute. With her car, it took only about 15 minutes. Additionally, besides her job at the funeral home, she also used her car to commute to work at two additional jobs at McDonald’s and for DoorDash.   

“Now I don’t even have the option to DoorDash for that extra gap for finances like food or like paying a bill that’s overdue,” Nygren-Yee said. “It’s putting me in a situation where I had plans to use my car to make more money, to pay for items that will be shut off next week. We are always like an incident away, one paycheck away from being out of a home. It makes my anxiety a little bit more.”

Her ID was also in the car along with other family documents. She said she was storing them in the vehicle after a recent break-in inside her apartment. She had planned to change the locks to her apartment, then move everything back in. But thieves got to her vehicle first. 

Pictures of her dad, holding her when she was little, also vanished, along with other sentimental items from her childhood in Hawaii. 

“My high school varsity letter from cheerleading, pictures of my grandmother who is since deceased,” said Nygren-Yee. 

She started a GoFundMe page, hoping to help dig herself out of the mess thieves left her in. 

“The dead get to rest, the living have to keep on fighting every day and that’s just what I feel like I have been doing,” she said.  

Ashley’s friend told her she spotted her stolen car in the Redmond area at around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night. When the friend tried to take a picture, the driver sped away and fled at speeds of 100 mph. If you have seen the vehicle, contact the Seattle Police Department.

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It was a cloudy and cool Halloween, and the rain unfortunately returned just in time for the trick-or-treaters. Rain continues tonight into Friday morning with more high elevation snow. 

Temperatures were cool again, with highs only reaching the low 50s. 

Temperatures were cool again, with highs only reaching the low 50s. 

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Showers will continue overnight with winds a little breezy at times. Temperatures will be in the mid to low 50s.

Showers will continue overnight with winds a little breezy at times. Temperatures will be in the mid to low 50s.

It will be a wet start to Friday with plenty of rain across western Washington. Snow will also be in the mountain passes, mainly above 4000′.

It will be a wet start to Friday with plenty of rain across Western Washington.  (FOX 13 Seattle)

The Mountain Headlines for the next several days includes snow and a Winter Weather Advisory. The Advisory remains in effect for the Cascades above 4000-5000′ through Friday evening. 

The Mountain Headlines for the next several days includes snow and a Winter Weather Advisory. 

Temperatures will be cool again on Friday, with highs only getting into the low 50s. Winds will also be a little breezy, especially in the South Sound.

Temperatures will be cool again Friday, with highs only getting into the low 50s. (FOX 13 Seattle)

Showers will be scattered through Friday evening, and spotty on Saturday and Sunday. We will see more rain to start the week with another frontal system, bringing more mountain snow and breezy winds as well. Rain breaks return from Wednesday into Thursday. 

Showers will be scattered through Friday evening, and spotty on Saturday and Sunday. (FOX 13 Seattle)

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