Mariners trade Eugenio Suarez to Diamondbacks, sources confirm،
The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Eugenio Suarez in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, filling their vacancy at third base and adding much-needed star power to their lineup.
The Mariners received right-hander Carlos Vargas and veteran catcher Seby Zavala for Suarez, who has hit at least 21 home runs in each of the last seven full seasons.
The Diamondbacks, the defending National League champions, were in need of a third baseman when three-time All-Star Evan Longoria became a free agent this month. Longoria, 38, played in just 74 games during the regular season, but started 16 of 17 games at hot corner during Arizona’s playoff run.
“It adds a little stability to that spot,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said. “He’s a guy we’ve liked for a long time.”
Suarez, 32, will earn just over $11 million in 2024 — the final guaranteed year of a seven-year contract that also includes a $15 million club option for 2025. His 7.2 WAR over the of the last two seasons is ninth among all third-placers in the major leagues. basemen.
Suarez hit .232 with 22 homers and 96 RBIs, but also struck out a league-leading 214 times last season, his second with the Mariners. He was an All-Star with the Cincinnati Reds in 2018 and had his best season in the majors the following year, with a career-high 49 home runs and 103 RBIs.
But Suarez has struggled to make consistent contact over the past four years, starting with the COVID-shortened 2020 season, where he hit just .202 despite hitting 15 homers in 60 games with Cincinnati.
Suarez, who has hit just .221 since 2020 and led the AL in strikeouts in each of the last two seasons, will join a Diamondbacks lineup that finished tied for 10th in the NL this season with 166 circuits.
Arizona ranked 26th in baseball in WAR by third basemen in 2023. Of the five players who played the position for Arizona last season, three are already off the roster — Longoria is an agent free agent, Josh Rojas was traded to Seattle at the trade deadline. , and Buddy Kennedy was lost on waivers to the St. Louis Cardinals. Jace Peterson and Emmanuel Rivera remain in the squad and are expected to fill reserve and/or platoon roles.
Vargas, 24, made five relief appearances during the regular season while Zavala, 30, is a career .210 hitter over four seasons with the Diamondbacks and White Sox.
Jerry Dipoto, Mariners president of baseball operations, said the club is considering Zavala as Cal Raleigh’s replacement at the start of the season.
Leaving Suarez will be a tough sell to a fan base full of skepticism about the club’s direction after Seattle missed the playoffs and Dipoto’s misstep with some of his comments in the playoffs. From the outside, this appears to be a move to wipe out salaries, erase a key leader from Seattle’s clubhouse and leave a hole at third base.
“The addition of Seby and Carlos is another step toward building the type of well-rounded roster required at the major league level,” Dipoto said. “Seby is an experienced catcher with excellent defensive skills who will team up with Cal behind the plate. And Carlos is a young reliever with the kind of ‘big stuff’ that our staff has done a wonderful job developing over the years. “
Kiley McDaniel of ESPN and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
