Eugenio Suárez and the Cincinnati Reds have agreed on a $15 million, one-year contract, two people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Sunday night.
The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical and had not been announced.
Suárez was the top slugger left on the free agent market and the two-time All-Star returns to Cincinnati, where he played seven seasons. He hit 189 home runs for the Reds from 2015 through 2021, including 49 in 2019.
The move gives the Reds the proven power hitter they had been seeking throughout the offseason. A third baseman for most of his 12-year major league career, the 34-year-old Suárez is expected to be Cincinnati’s primary designated hitter and perhaps play some games at third base or first.
The team has Gold Glove winner Ke’Bryan Hayes at third, and touted prospect Sal Stewart is likely to play first.
The Reds were one of many teams interested in Suárez at the trade deadline last year, but they didn’t want to part with key prospects. He was traded from Arizona to Seattle on July 31 and finished fifth in the majors with 49 home runs and fourth with 118 RBIs. He batted .228 overall with an .824 OPS.
The Mariners fell one win shy of reaching their first World Series, losing to Toronto in the American League Championship Series. Suárez had two home runs in Game 5, including a grand slam in the eighth inning.
Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati has averaged 2.67 home runs per game since it opened in 2003. That is the second-highest homer rate in the majors among ballparks to host at least 1,200 games.
Suárez was traded by the Reds to Seattle during spring training in 2022. He spent two seasons with the Mariners before getting traded to the Diamondbacks.
Suárez broke into the majors with Detroit in 2014. He is a .246 career hitter with 325 homers, 949 RBIs and a .792 OPS.
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