One open question from October resolved itself on Saturday during the #108Day festivities when AJ Pollock signed a one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners.
The amount? $7 million ... or $1 million less than he would've made had he exercised his option with the White Sox.
Pollock, for those foggy on the details, declined the $13 million club option at the end of the season to accept a $5 million buyout. At the time, I wrote that it didn't seem like a financially optimal decision, because a 35-year-old platoon outfielder didn't seem like a great candidate for an $8 million deal.
That ended up being true enough, but if Pollock was concerned about being blocked or traded, and preferred to have more say in his role and landing spot, then $1 million might've been a fair fee for such autonomy.
Meanwhile, Pollock did the White Sox a favor of freeing them from the obligation of working around/trying to move that $13 million salary, because Andrew Benintendi will only require $11 million for the first season of his five-year deal. The White Sox needed months to resolve the Craig Kimbrel situation after exercising his option, and Pollock would've required a similar amount of effort to move, at least without throwing in money. The straightforward solution of a quality free agent signing is a lot more enjoyable.
As a bonus, Pollock avoided signing with a direct competitor. Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic had pointed to Pollock as the best candidate remaining to shore up Minnesota's outfield situation, and the runners-up require more work to accommodate.
