For the second time in three years, the Seattle Mariners are expected to move on from Eugenio Suárez as their starting third baseman.
Back on Nov. 23, 2023, the Mariners traded Suárez to the Diamondbacks following a season during which he played in all 162 games, hitting 22 homers and driving in 96 runs but also striking out 214 times. With no real increase in payroll budget, Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners president of baseball operations, was trying to create some payroll flexibility by moving on from Suárez. There was some thought that Suárez’s power seemed to be trending downward with age while his strikeout rate would only increase.
Suárez reversed that trend in Arizona. In 264 games over the past two seasons with the D’Backs before being traded back to Seattle in August, Suárez posted a .253/.319/.513 slash line with 47 doubles, 66 homers and 214 RBI.
In his second stint with Seattle, Suárez struggled to find consistency, posting a .189/.255/.428 line in 53 regular-season games. But his game-winning grand slam in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series won’t soon be forgotten.
Unlike in 2023, Suárez leaves the Mariners as a free agent for the first time in his career. Would the Mariners like to bring him back for 2026? For the right price. They wouldn’t give the 34-year-old more than two years on a contract and they wouldn’t go more than $12-15 million per year.
“It is tough, because you do your best for your team and you want to keep going,” Suárez told MLB.com after the loss to the Blue Jays in Game 7. “But it is what it is. It’s a business. And just now, my mentality is go home and enjoy my family.”
Without Suárez, the Mariners could look to rookie Ben Williamson as their starter while hoping top prospect Colt Emerson could also slide over to third base for one season and serve a potential platoon partner.
Williamson is an outstanding defensive player that could be elite. But he doesn’t profile to be much more than a replacement-level hitter. Emerson is expected to be the starting shortstop in Tacoma when the 2026 season opens, but he will come to spring training with a chance to compete for the third-base job if the Mariners don’t bring in an established third baseman.
While their admitted focus has been on bringing back Josh Naylor, could they pivot back to Suárez or even take a run at Alex Bregman, particularly if they fail to land Naylor?
Here’s a look at the free-agent market for third basemen.
Top tier
Alex Bregman
Eugenio Suárez
After one season in Boston, Bregman opted out of a contract that would’ve paid him $80 million over the next two seasons to become a free agent. He signed the three-year deal with a high average annual value when he couldn’t get the five- or six-year contract he was looking for last offseason. Now 32, does he deserve a long-term deal after a season in Boston where he posted a .273/.360/.462 slash line with 28 doubles, 18 homers, 62 RBI, 51 walks and 70 strikeouts in 114 games? A nasty quad injury torpedoed a strong start to his season and there were some in Boston who felt it lingered late, causing him to struggle. If he’s looking for five years, it seems unlikely he will get more than $25-28 million per season.
But when healthy, he will make a good team great with his production at the plate, strong defense at third and playoff experience.
The unknowns (age in parentheses)
There are pair of strong-hitting corner infielders from Japan who are expected to be posted for MLB teams in the coming weeks.
Munetaka Murakami (26) — He is considered to be the best power hitter in Nippon Professional Baseball. A left-handed hitter, he blasted 56 homers in 2022 and followed that up with 31 and 33 homers in the next two seasons. An oblique strain kept him out for a large portion this season, but in 56 games with Yakult, he posted a .283/.379/.663 slash line in 224 plate appearances, including 22 homers, 47 RBI, 32 walks and 64 strikeouts.
He isn’t considered to be an elite defensive player with the general consensus among pro scouts being a move to first base in the next few years. Given his age, he will garner a multiyear deal. Will it be similar or larger than the five-year, $90 million contract that Masataka Yoshida signed with the Red Sox at age 29?
Kazuma Okamoto (30) — An elbow injury caused him to miss a large chunk of his season for Yomiuri this season. In 69 games, the right-handed hitting Okamoto posted a .327/416/.598 slash line in 293 plate appearances with 21 doubles, 15 homers, 49 RBI, 33 walks and only 33 strikeouts. From 2018 to 2024, he averaged 34 homers a season, including 41 in 2023.
But the elbow issues could force him to move to first base. There was some thought that move was needed if he came to MLB.
The best of the rest
Luis Rengifo (29) — A switch-hitter who has shown flashes of being a solid hitter with minimal consistency. Rengifo can also play second and first base, though he’s not considered even an average defender at any of the positions. He’s coming off a down season. In 147 games, he posted a .238/.287/.335 slash line with 16 doubles, nine homers, 43 RBI, 10 stolen bases, 33 walks and 114 strikeouts.
Paul DeJong (32)
Yoán Moncada (31)
Kiké Hernández (34)
Luis Urías (29)
Gio Urshela (34)
Ildemaro Vargas (34)
Jon Berti (36)