3 Trades to find the Mariners third baseman of the future

With Eugenio Suarez being sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks in nothing more than a salary dump, the Mariners have yet another hole in their lineup. You can't tell me that they expect to roll Luis Urias out there every day and expect an improvement. They already had a hole in a corner outfield spot as well as a DH, and now with a hole at third base, let's explore 3 trade possibilities to become the long-term solution for the Mariners.

Possible Mariners Solution #1: Bo Bichette

This might be cheating, considering Bichette is a shortstop, but I don't care. I mentioned Bichette as a possible replacement for Geno previously and I am doubling down. This would probably require Bichette moving positions or asking JP Crawford if he would move to second base. I think this move has the highest ceiling of the 3 options listed. Bichette is a high contact, 4–5-win type player. He has a career 127 wRC+ and is 1 hit short of being a career 300 hitter. He fits the mold of what Dipoto has been targeting, as far as limiting strikeouts, as he has a career strikeout rate of 20.8%. Bichette is also a very solid defender that could play as the everyday second baseman, third baseman, or shortstop.

The other part of this is the cost of getting Bichette. In this scenario. He will be expensive to acquire prospect-wise and contract-wise and to be the man of the future, he would get an extension as he is currently only under contract through 2025.

I think to acquire Bichette, you are looking at something like Bryce Miller, and either a prospect group including a Harry Ford and Jonatan Clase type package, or Bryce Miller and Jarred Kelenic type package. Then you have to look at signing him to a long-term deal. Considering the contract Xander Bogaerts, Trea Turner, and Carlos Correa got, I think the Mariners would need to be in that ballpark. Dipoto and Co have shown a willingness to go out and acquire the guy that they think fits their team and giving them a contract extension, perhaps something similar could happen here?

Possible Mariners Solution #3: Spencer Steer

I have mentioned Spencer Steer a couple of times previously this offseason, he might be my favorite player to add to this team. He isn't really a good defensive player anywhere, but you can get by with him playing third base for you, especially considering how good the bat played. Steer is a solid corner infielder with solid power and contact ability. He slashed .271/.356/.464, which translated to a 118 wRC+, a 20.9% strikeout rate and a solid 10.2% walk rate. He also hit 23 home runs and stole 15 bases.

I think the Reds match up well as a team with a lot of depth on the offensive side of things and lack some solid rotation options. As I stated previously in this trade proposal, I could see a package of Steer and Ian GIbaut/Lucas Sims for Bryce Miller/Bryan Woo making sense for both sides. Steer is a free agent before the 2029 season gets under way, giving him one less year of control than Miller or Woo.