Kyle Seager’s farewell to Seattle last year was emotional to the players on the field and Mariners fans everywhere. While it was unknown at the time that he would eventually retire during the offseason, it had been made clear the Mariners were not going to pick up $20 million club option.
Seager's clubhouse presence and consistency across his tenure in the Pacific Northwest was going to be difficult to replace. But it seems general manager Jerry Dipoto did that and then some with the March acquisition of veteran third baseman Eugenio Suárez.
Suárez was the forgotten piece of the trade that netted the Mariners outfielder Jesse Winker for right-handed pitcher Justin Dunn, outfielder Jake Fraley, left-handed pitching prospect Brandon Williamson and right-handed pitching prospect Connor Phillips. This deal was predicated on the Mariners trading young talent to acquire Winker, but their willingness to take Suárez's remaining $33 million off the Reds' books played a large role as well.
Suárez was coming off a bad season, slashing .198/.286/.428, though he also homered 31 times. Despite his 2021 struggles, Suárez has been an above-average hitter in wRC+ in five different seasons, including a career-high 135 wRC+ in 2018.
The Mariners saw him as a right-handed replacement for Seager, adding thump to a lineup that desperately needed it. So far, so good.
To this point in the season, Suárez is running a 132 wRC+ while slashing .233/.323/.460. These marks run much closer to the player Suárez has been over the course of his career. While he has been streaky, he has the ability to carry the offense when his bat is hot, as evidenced by his role in the team's two comeback victories against the Rangers this past weekend.
His Baseball Savant page shows some very nice trends, including a 73rd percentile xwOBA and a 95th percentile barrel rate. Suárez has plenty of swing and miss in his game, but it doesn’t show up as badly when he takes his walks and doesn’t chase. This season, he ranks in the 71st percentile in walk rate and the 79th percentile in chase rate, which are both improvements from 2021.
Another bright spot has been his defense, and his work with Mariners coach Perry Hill has paid off. Although he has made a few glaring mistakes, multiple web gems and solid production have Suárez firmly planted as a slightly above-average defender. His UZR and DRS both currently sit at 1, meaning FanGraphs sees value and run prevention in his defense over the average defender.
Suárez brought his “good vibes” to the Mariners clubhouse as well. His commitment to playing the game in a fun-loving and enjoyable way seems to have rubbed off on his teammates.
As mentioned, he led Seattle to multiple come-from-behind wins down in Arlington, though none exemplified the spark he brings better than Sunday afternoon's stunner. The Mariners wound up fighting back from a 1.2 percent win probability, led by a ninth-inning Suárez double to tie the game and send it to extra innings—where the team eventually won by a score of 6-5.
Clutch home runs, solid defense, and thump in the middle of the order have far outweighed the slumps from Suárez. A change of scenery and the move back to third base following a dreadful 2021 at shortstop may have revitalized his career.
The swing and miss is inevitable at this point, but it's been more good than bad at this point for Suarez in 2022. His fWAR ranks fourth on the club, well ahead of trade partner Jesse Winker (-0.2). And there is no reason to think anything Suárez has done this year is unsustainable; this has still been somewhat of a regression from his career-best seasons, but he's found a good middle ground to provide value.
All of this together has made Suárez the perfect match to replace Seager, especially if it just means eating his contract. Seager’s presence and production would no doubt be hard to replace, but Suárez has done more than fill those shoes thus far.
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