Scott Boras trying to push Mariners toward eyebrow-raising Eugenio Suárez replacement

The Seattle Mariners ostensibly have job openings at second base and third base. Between the two, though, the hot corner situation has felt like one the club can live with. After all, Ben Williamson and top prospect Colt Emerson are right there for a spirited competition in spring training.

If anything happens at third base, it'll probably involve the Mariners simply bringing back Eugenio Suárez for a third stint in Seattle. Yet even this will only happen if the market forces him to come back with his hat in hand, ready and willing to accept a club-friendly deal. As beloved as "Geno" is in the Pacific Northwest, it's no big secret that he's a power-only hitter in his mid-30s, and one whose bat might be slowing down.

For now, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports that the Mariners are "not active in the third-base market." That means Suárez should be looking elsewhere for a job, and also that they'll just have to ignore Scott Boras as he tries to sell them on Alex Bregman.

Scott Boras trying to push Mariners toward eyebrow-raising Eugenio Suárez replacement

According to Jude, Boras "has initiated discussions with the Mariners to express Bregman’s willingness to consider Seattle as a destination." That's nice of him, yet the image that comes to mind is of someone dropping a pick-up line at a bar and then getting repelled by immediate disinterest.

We've been over this before. Bregman is a terrific fit for the Mariners on paper in more ways than one. The 31-year-old has been an All-Star and a Gold Glover as a third baseman, and he's up there on the all-time postseason leaderboard with 19 home runs and 55 runs batted in.

And yet, it's never been a perfect fit. As Daniel Kramer of MLB.com wrote earlier this year, there are concerns related to the stink of Bregman's involvement in the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal, as well as with how his hitting profile would translate to T-Mobile Park. He only has a .725 OPS in Seattle for his career, compared to .846 overall. Further, he would have 44 fewer home runs if he'd been calling T-Mobile Park home all this time.

The cost to sign Bregman is going to be significant. MLB Trade Rumors has him down for a six-year, $160 million contract, which is $45 million more than Jerry Dipoto has ever given to a free agent. Such a deal would have barely fit their budget at the outset, and it just plain doesn't now after the club's five-year, $92.5 million deal with Josh Naylor.

What Boras is doing, then, seems like a naked attempt to put heat on clubs that are interested in his client. The Boston Red Sox are surely one, and the Chicago Cubs are reportedly interested as well. Both have more money than the Mariners, and each has a more pressing need to upgrade at third base.

It's nice to know that Boras' newfound appreciation for the Mariners isn't merely a public-facing facade. But if there's a right tree for him to be barking up about Bregman, this isn't it.