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 #2: Isaac Paredes

Paredes was so good in 2023 and fits the CTZ mold that Dipoto has identified as the main improvement that he wants to make for the 2024 club. He slashed .250/.352/.488, good for a 137 wRC+ and a 4.3 fWAR. As I said, Paredes was a true CTZ guy with a strikeout rate of just 18.2% and a walk rate of 10.2%, both are above league average. Maybe even more impressively, he hit 31 home runs, a combination the Mariners would love.

Paredes would be a very expensive bat to acquire as he will enter 2024 with Super 2 status and get an extra year of arbitration eligibility, estimating a salary of $4.1 million. He is under control through 2027, giving you a long-term answer at third base. Acquiring Paredes would not come cheap at all. Most likely, he would require Bryce Miller or Bryan Woo as well as a top prospect like Cole Young or Harry Ford and maybe even another top 10 prospect or 2. Or, and I am against this idea, trade Logan Gilbert for Paredes and another piece or 2.