Mariners' division rival's 3-team trade puts Seattle in big offseason bind

The Seattle Mariners are still looking for ways to recover from losing Jorge Polanco, which figured to be hard enough without those pesky Houston Astros punching them in the back.

Such is what happened on Friday, when the Astros took part in a three-team trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays that took a post-Polanco option for Seattle off the board. Pour one out for the idea of Brandon Lowe as a Mariner, as he's going to be a Pirate instead.

Mariners' division rival's 3-team trade puts Seattle in big offseason bind

There wasn't a whole lot (i.e., literally anything) on the rumor mill to indicate that the Mariners were interested in acquiring Lowe from the Rays. But he was in option in spirit, owing to the trade history between Seattle and Tampa Bay and how well he would have fit in the Mariners lineup.

Lowe, 31, is a primary second baseman who hit 31 home runs this year. That's in line with a 162-game average of 34.5 dating back to 2021, when he hit a career-high 39.

Because of his power potential, Lowe was especially appealing as a Mariners target after Polanco bolted for the New York Mets. Though he was more of a DH than a second baseman, the Mariners still got 26 home runs and 30 doubles out of Polanco this season. There simply aren't many players who can offer that kind of oomph at the keystone, and Lowe was one of them.

One silver lining of Friday's deal is that it doesn't seem to have meaningfully upgraded Houston's 2026 roster. The Astros are getting back right-hander Mike Burrows, who was close to league average in posting a 109 ERA+ over 96.0 innings for the Pirates this year. He has a nasty changeup, but his fastball got crushed for a .326 average and .529 slugging percentage.

Even still, the downstream effect for Jerry Dipoto is that he now has one less option in his search for an infield bat to take Polanco's place. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported this week that the M's are still in the mix for Ketel Marte and Brendan Donovan, and the asking price for either one may have just gone up. As it is, the St. Louis Cardinals have been driving a hard bargain for Donovan.

Dipoto will have to figure it out. Because while the plan to roll with Ben Williamson or Colt Emerson at third base is feasible, the lineup just won't look the same if the Mariners leave Polanco's spot unfilled.