Mariners' solution for life after Eugenio Suárez is coming into sharp focus

The Seattle Mariners made one of the biggest moves of this year's deadline by reuniting with old friend Eugenio Suárez. Unfortunately, his on-field performance has paled in comparison to his expectations. He has been ice-cold since returning to Seattle, posting a 38 OPS+ and -0.4 rWAR over 16 games.

On the bright side, he's fully aware of the situation and is actively working to fix it. But with Suárez set to enter free agency at the end of the season, it isn't too soon for the Mariners to consider what to do at third base after he's gone. Luckily, they already have a proven backup option waiting in the wings, and recent data suggests that he might be able to ascend back to starter status.

Ben Williamson has been dominating at the plate with Triple-A Tacoma

Despite being replaced by Suárez, Ben Williamson hasn't wasted a second and has been quietly raking down in the minor leagues. Since making his first appearance back with Triple-A Tacoma on August 2, the 24-year-old has posted a 208 wRC+ across eight games and is notably slugging .750 as a result of the triple and three home runs he has hit over that span.

These results should come as a bit of a surprise to those who had been watching Williamson at the big league level all year. His ISO of just .058 pales in comparison to the MLB average of .157, and his Statcast power metrics are comfortably in the bottom quartile. In fact, a big reason that third base became such a position of need for the Mariners was his lack of power.

One might argue that this sudden jump in effectiveness at the plate is simply a result of facing lower-level pitching. But based on his results from his first stint with the Rainiers, it seems like a real step forward. In his first 14 games of the year, he reached a maximum exit velocity of 107.3 mph and has already set a new season record with an exit velocity of 109.7 mph in this second stint.

There's still time for Suárez to turn things around and to his credit, the past week has given fans a potential preview of a return to form. But even if he helps the team avoid adding to its history of catastrophic collapses, nobody is under any delusion that he's a long-term answer at the hot corner.

Williamson doesn't have the typical profile of a third baseman, but even with his deflated offensive numbers, he still found a way to accumulate 1.3 rWAR over his tenure with the team. And even if replacing him had to be done, Williamson has clearly taken the right lesson away from the experience.