One of the game’s most powerful bats is on the move.
The Arizona Diamondbacks traded slugging third baseman Eugenio Suárez to the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. In return, the Diamondbacks will receive first baseman Tyler Locklear and a pair of pitching prospects, RHP Hunter Cranton and RHP Juan Burgos, according to MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer.
Suárez, 34, is in the midst of his best season in the majors. Entering the All-Star break, he was hitting .250/.320/.569 with 31 home runs. Only three other players — Cal Raleigh, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani — had that many home runs at the midway point of the season. Suárez is up to 36 now, which is the most by any player prior to a midseason trade, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. The previous record was set by Mark McGwire, who hit 34 homers before he was dealt in 1997.
Despite taking a fastball off his hand in the All-Star Game, Suárez began the second half on a tear, smashing four home runs in his first three games out of the break.
Power has always been Suárez’s calling card. He developed into one of the game’s premier power bats early in his career with the Cincinnati Reds. After some modest seasons early on, he took a major step forward in 2017, posting an OPS over .800 for the first time in his career. He followed that with two excellent seasons in which he hit a combined .277/.362/.550 and 83 home runs. He made his first All-Star team in 2018 and received down-ballot MVP votes.
At that point, his numbers cratered. While Suárez held on to his excellent power, his average declined. He hit just .199 over his final two seasons with the Reds before he was traded to the Mariners ahead of the 2022 season.
His batting average recovered slightly in Seattle, but he looked to be a player in decline in 2023, when he posted a slugging percentage under .400 for the first time since his rookie season. Suárez was then traded to Arizona ahead of the 2024 season.
Things in Arizona didn’t start out well for the veteran. Suárez hit just .216/.302/.366 during the first half of 2024. Given his previous decline and his age, it looked like he might play his way out of a starting role.
But something clicked in the second half. Suárez exploded to hit .307/.341/.602 with 20 home runs down the stretch. With that, he not only saved his season but also convinced the Diamondbacks to pick up a $15 million team option for the 2025 season.
This year, Suárez picked up where he left off after his second-half surge in 2024, making his second All-Star team this season. He’ll bring his immense pop and presumably a few more down-ballot MVP votes back to the Mariners in pursuit of his first World Series title.
Barring an extension, Suárez will hit the free-agent market at the end of the season. As such, he’s merely a rental for the Mariners, but it’s looking like he’ll play his way into another strong contract, especially if he produces at anywhere near his first-half pace in Seattle.
What to make of Suarez’s return to the Mariners?
The Mariners were the first team to make a significant addition in the days leading up to the deadline, acquiring first baseman Josh Naylor from the D-backs, but it was difficult not to wonder if that move was merely an appetizer to a much more significant swap with the Snakes — one that would reunite Seattle with third baseman Eugenio Suarez.
Sure enough, such a trade came together almost a week later after a couple of other third basemen were dealt in Ryan McMahon and Ke’Bryan Hayes, shrinking the pool of potential suitors for the 34-year-old Suarez and opening the window for Seattle to prepare the requisite offer to secure a deal.
Suarez quickly became a fan favorite during his two years with the Mariners in 2022 and 2023 but was traded to Arizona after the 2023 season in what can only be described as a salary dump based on Seattle’s self-imposed payroll restrictions, so it’s certainly an unusual sequence to see them spend real prospect capital to reacquire him two years later. That said, Suarez’s bat has been completely rejuvenated over the past calendar year after seemingly trending in the wrong direction toward the end of his first Mariners tenure. That made him one of, if not the most attractive hitter available at this year’s deadline, with an astonishing 36 homers and MLB-leading 87 RBI before August.
Rookie Ben Williamson has done an admirable job at the hot corner for Seattle this year, particularly with the glove, but his bat is simply unequipped to be a reasonable major-league contributor at this stage, prompting Seattle to consider upgrading at third as the deadline approached. Suarez obviously represents a humongous step up with the bat, and he brings a beloved veteran presence back to the Mariners clubhouse after a two-year hiatus. Suarez’s glove has not rated well this year, so replacing Williamson with Suarez will likely hurt Seattle’s infield defense, but it’s a worthy gambit, one that suddenly makes Seattle’s lineup one of the deepest and most dangerous in the American League.
Along with Naylor and the addition of left-hander Caleb Ferguson earlier Wednesday to fortify the bullpen, the Mariners are having an awfully strong deadline. But they still could use another reliever, and they wield the prospect capital to chase some of the bullpen arms still on the market. Let’s see if they have another move in them.
As for Arizona, it continues its sell-off with this Suarez deal and adds some more young talent from Seattle’s system after acquiring pitchers Brandyn Garcia and Ashton Izzi in the Naylor trade. Locklear is a powerful, right-handed first baseman who has been on absolute fire in Triple-A over the past month, earning a call-up just this week after making his major-league debut last year. He’s a natural replacement for Naylor at first base and should get plenty of opportunity to prove his worth as an every-day first baseman in the big leagues.
Burgos and Cranton are both relief prospects — and very good ones. Burgos flew under the radar for his entire minor-league career but recently made his major-league debut. Cranton was a third-round pick last season and dealt with some injuries to start his first full pro season but has a ridiculous fastball in the upper-90s that could be fast-tracked to the majors in a high-leverage role. He’s in High-A right now, but don’t be surprised if he’s in Arizona’s bullpen by this time next year. — Shusterman
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