Adrian Beltre is going to be out of the lineup for most of the season and Seattle will have to find someone with a little more pop than Chris Woodward if they want to stay in the AL West race.  There shouldn’t be a huge rush because Woodward is hitting and fielding just fine right now, but at some point he’s going to scuffle his way back to his career norms and the Mariners will need to upgrade.

There aren’t a lot of options internally. Some people were hoping that Russell Branyan would shift to third base, opening first for Mike Carp, but with Carp being sent back to Tacoma that possibility is probably dead.   That wouldn’t have been a foolproof alignment anyway, as it would produce one of the worst defensive infields around, cause Seattle to rely on a rookie’s bat in the middle of the order, and moving Branyan defensively could, in theory, take him out of his season long offensive groove.  Another alignment that has been discussed has Jose Lopez bumping over to third with Ronny Cedeno playing shortstop and either Yuniesky Betancourt or Woodward playing second.  That creates a solid defensive infield but there isn’t much there offensively.

There isn’t anything in the minors either.  Matt Tuiasosopo would have been the ideal replacement but he’s missed virtually the entire season with an elbow injury and is still in the early stages of rehabbing it.  Mike Morse might have been an option but he is now Washington Nationals property, and Chris Shelton doesn’t have the arm or range to be a big league third baseman.

A trade makes sense as long as Seattle isn’t giving up too much.  FOX’s John Paul Morosi reported a couple days back that the Mariners have talked to the San Diego Padres about Kevin Kouzmanoff.  He’s got good raw power from the right side of the plate, but he struggles to make contact and doesn’t walk.  Kouzmanoff is an average defender according to most metrics but most who watch him play do not agree.  I’d take him only if the price is right, but he wouldn’t be high on my list.  That said, he’s dirt cheap (salary-wise) and under club control for a couple more seasons, so he could be an interesting project player for the post-Beltre era.  Now, it’s worth noting that GM Jack Zduriencik isn’t fond of project players who get playing time based on upside, so don’t expect him to give up anything for Kouzmanoff.  A better option from the Padres would be Chase Headley, a third baseman doubling as an outfielder.  Unfortunately he’s probably not available unless the Mariners were to give up some real prospects.

The Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck also wrote that the Mariners could be a fit for Garrett Atkins, and relays the thoughts of one AL scout that thinks Seattle should try and send a “bullpen power arm” to Colorado to make a deal happen.

Atkins is under club control through 2010, so he would give Seattle a third baseman post-Beltre, but he’s not much of an option.  He’s made a name for himself by boosting his numbers at Coors Field, but simply isn’t a good ballplayer outside of Denver.  Over 1537 career plate appearances outside of Coors Field he has a batting line of just .256/.325/.414.  This season he’s been a poor hitter everywhere, batting just .224/.300/.336.  He’s also a poor defender at this point of his career and the home runs he’s hit have made him a lot of money in arbitration.

Atkins is a right handed hitter who doesn’t have enough power to conquer Safeco Field.  He would be a poor option for Seattle and wouldn’t be worth his $7M+ salary.  There are very few trades that would make sense for Seattle with regards to Atkins.  Geoff Baker has suggested Miguel Batista for Atkins.  I could okay that deal but it’s more equal than it should be.  Atkins would have a hard time being any more than replacement level with the Mariners, so believe it or not Batista might produce a better return elsewhere.  Atkins’ name value is way higher than his actual value.  Besides, why would the Rockies make that deal?

Atkins’ teammate Ian Stewart would be a better option for Seattle (left handed, more power, not as terrible on defense), but the Rockies shouldn’t be looking to move him at this point unless they are overwhelmed by an offer.

The Mariners could opt to go with a lesser known filler– another scrub that is a small upgrade over Woodward.  Dave at USS Mariner suggested a few names in addressing the situation a few days ago:

The guys that I would recommend the M’s take a look would include guys like Bobby Scales (Cubs), Eric Patterson (A’s), Kevin Frandsen (Giants), Ruben Gotay (D’Backs), and Scott Moore (Orioles). All of them are more useful than Woodward, and none of them should cost too much to acquire (though more than Langerhans did, certainly), but the expected level of performance isn’t going to be particularly high, either. These guys are all replacement level or slightly above, so while they’re improvements over Chris Woodward, we’re talking about a magnitude of less than one win.

Some of those guys would slot in at second, bumping Lopez to third as in the scenario at the top of the post, while some would play third.  They’re all switch or left handed hitters and at very least work the counts, and I could get behind a cheap acquisition of any of them.

I’ve heard a lot of fans calling for Baltimore’s Ty Wigginton as if he’s a hidden gem, but he’s not much different than Atkins and Kouzmanoff.  The power is there, but he’s right handed and about as bad with the glove as Atkins  and his 2009 line of .263/.304/.397 is uninspiring at best. He’d come cheap trade-wise, which is a plus, but he’s not cheap salary-wise ($6M ’09-10).  Again, I couldn’t be against it if Seattle got him in exchange for a handful of scrubs, but I wouldn’t give up much.

One guy I wouldn’t mind in a Mariner uniform would be Kansas City Royals 3B Mark Teahen.  Teahen was bouncing between second base and right field this year until regular 3B Alex Gordon hit the DL in April.  Gordon is due back soon and Teahen may have to play out of position at second base or accept a utility role.

Offensively Teahen never turned into the next Jason Giambi as suggested in Moneyball, but he’s having a very solid year with a .289/.349/.456 slash line from the left side of the plate.  He’s not great with the glove, but at least he would add a legitimate and much needed lefty bat to the lineup and is under team control through 2010, allowing Seattle to use him as a stopgap third baseman next year or re-trade him.

I have no idea what it would take to get Teahen, but I wonder if a package centered around Betancourt and Wlad Balentien, two former KC targets, could get it done.

With Aramis Ramirez working his way back from a shoulder injury, Chicago’s Mike Fontenot could be expendable, though ARam’s return doesn’t make that a given.  Lou Pinella has publicly declared his love for Fontenot and he can also be used at second base.  Then again, the Cubs just acquired Jeff Baker to play some second base, so who knows.  The point is that he could be available, but don’t count on it.  USS Mariner has already made the case for a Fontenot acquisition, so just head there for details.

Any other options you’d like to see the M’s pursue without giving up any major prospects?  LA’s Blake DeWitt is popular among Mariner fans for whatever reason but would have to be qualified as an all-defense guy at third base.