Veteran infielder Jorge Polanco signed a two-year deal with the New York Mets on Saturday morning, turning down strong overtures from the Seattle Mariners, who badly wanted him back this offseason.

At first, it felt like the Mariners made a financial decision, not wanting to over-extend for Polanco, but in reality, it was more than that.

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As noted by MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer:

The Mariners had also matched the Mets on the length of their final offer but did not match the financial amount, a source told MLB.com. Another source familiar with the negotiations said that the Mariners were “very competitive, and their actions backed their words.” But it’s unclear what Seattle’s final number was at this stage.

Polanco was “very torn” on the decision, a source with knowledge of his thinking said, but he was ultimately swayed by the higher offer and the proximity to his father, who lives in New York, and as such, was a very influential factor.

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I’ve said this for years in this business, and it was proven right again by Polanco: All athletes are motivated by something different. Some are motivated by money, some are motivated by winning, some are motivated by playing time, some are motivated by opportunity, some are motivated by family, some are motivated by comfort and some are motivated by location.

We often expect players to “take less” to stay with our organizations, and in this case, it feels like Polanco would have taken a little less to stay with Seattle. However, his family situation dictated that he do something different.

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The money always helps, but it’s not always about the money, remember that.

Well, the M’s are reportedly engaged in conversations with the St. Louis Cardinals about All-Star Brendan Donovan, with the M’s and Giants acting as the co-favorites in those trade talks.

If the Mariners are able to land Donovan, they may view their offseason as complete, but if not? There are big money moves to be made on the free agent market in the form of Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette and Alex Bregman. There are also Japanese sluggers Munetaka Murakami and Kazuo Okamoto coming to the United States.

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Earlier on Sunday, we explored the idea of trading for Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz of the Tampa Bay Rays.

We will break down more of these scenarios on the next Refuse to Lose podcast, which will air on Monday night.

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