The Cincinnati Reds made a splash in free agency on Sunday evening and acquired the power bat that they need for the middle of their lineup. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that the Reds have signed Eugenio Suarez to a 1-year deal for $15,000,000. C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic is reporting that a mutual option for 2027 at $16,000,000 is also a part of the deal. It’s a reunion that the club is hoping brings back all of the good vibes.
Suarez, the 34-year-old veteran, hit .228/.298/.526 with 49 home runs and 118 RBI in 2025. He had a tale of two seasons, though. He began the year with Arizona and was an All-Star. He hit .248/.320/.576 for the Diamondbacks in 106 games, but they traded him at the deadline to the Seattle Mariners. While he kept hitting home runs with the Mariners – 13 of them in 53 games – he struggled to do much else as he hit just .189 with a .255 on-base percentage.
Seattle has been a place where a lot of guys just don’t hit all that well. There are some theories about it, including that there is something “off” about the batters eye in the ballpark. Suarez has played in 365 games with the Mariners organization over his career and has hit .227/.317/.424. In his seven years with Cincinnati he hit .253/.335/.476 and in his 254 games with Arizona he hit .253/.319/.513.
All of that feels important to note because one of those hitters would help a lot more than the other one would. Cincinnati adding an .800+ OPS hitter to the middle of their order who can hit .250 and show off plenty of pop would probably do wonders for a lineup that struggles to hit for power. But a sub .750 OPS hitter in the middle of their lineup would not move the needle all that much. The Reds and Suarez are both hoping for the .800+ OPS version to step forward in 2026.
The question as to what this does to the lineup on the defensive side of things is now out there, too. Passan’s report notes that the infielder is expected to get most of his at-bats as the designated hitter. Suarez has rarely spent time as a designated hitter in his career. He’s only played first base for six innings in his career. Nearly all of his time is spent at third base, where he has played 150+ games in each of the last three years.
At the trade deadline last season the Reds acquired Ke’Bryan Hayes. He’s not exactly much of a hitter, but he is arguably the best defensive player in baseball. He’s making $7,000,000 in 2026 and is under contract through at least 2029, with a team option for $12,000,000 in 2030 that includes a $6,000,000 buyout.
If Hayes isn’t going to the bench, then it adds some complexity as to how everyone fits into the lineup as you would guess that means more time for Suarez at first base or designated hitter, which then means that spots for Spencer Steer and Sal Stewart are up in the air as to where they play or how often they play, and if it’s where, that means that trickles down to someone else, too.
When the move becomes official we’ll probably get to hear from president of baseball operations Nick Krall or general manager Brad Meador. That would likely shed some light on the situation a bit more.
