Diamondbacks GM Explains How Eugenio Suárez Trade Happened

On Wednesday night, the Arizona Diamondbacks finalized the deal that had been speculated for weeks. All-Star third baseman Eugenio Suárez was dealt to the Seattle Mariners.

Though Suárez had preferred to stay in Arizona, the slugger and his 36 homers carried some of the most value in MLB among rental pieces — D-backs GM Mike Hazen opted to take advantage of that market.

In return, Arizona received first baseman and Mariners No. 9 prospect Tyler Locklear, as well as two relief prospects.

Related Content: D-backs' GM Reveals Third Base Plans after Eugenio Suárez Trade

On Thursday, following the official end of the deadline, Hazen met with the media to discuss the deal. He gave insight as to how the Suárez deal came together.

Arizona Diamondbacks' GM Discusses Eugenio Suárez Trade

Hazen said the deal with Seattle had been in the works for some time, though it still ended up being finalized nearly a full day prior to the official deadline.

"The Geno deal was percolating for a few days," Hazen said. "We had started receiving phone calls weeks ago."

"We weren't making outward calls, but as you can imagine, given what he's done, we received a number of phone calls that we took and we just said, 'Hey, listen, we're staying in it. Obviously if we stay in it, there's no chance of trading him, but we'll circle back if that happens.'

"And then we had a group of probably three or four teams that got a little more serious. I think once we... got a firm offer, we circled back with the Mariners and they just basically came at us from a much more aggressive standpoint, which is what usually what happens with the Mariners," Hazen said.

That aggressive standpoint then began to fuel discussions with other clubs. Ultimately, however, the Mariners added to their offer and won out, Hazen said.

Diamondbacks' Mike Hazen's Message to Fans after Trade Deadline

Trading fan-favorites like Suárez, Merrill Kelly, Josh Naylor, or any of the other departing D-backs is not an easy reality to swallow.

Arizona is not in the position they expected to be coming into a 2025 season heaped high with expectation.

Hazen acknowledged that reality, and gave a clear message to fans who may be understandably disappointed in the Deadline happenings.

"The message to the fans, obviously, I think I've repeated myself many different times on this, that we're exceptionally disappointed with where the season went," Hazen said.

"I think, unfortunately, in my job and where we're at looking forward and trying to put the best team on the field for 2026, certainly the best for the rest of 2025 to our ability.

"I have to face the reality of where our feet are, how we're playing, and we just didn't play well enough. And where we were in relation to those teams we were chasing was not a good spot for me to feel like we have in years past," Hazen said.

The truth is, the D-backs just haven't proven that they can fight for a playoff spot the same way they have in prior seasons. They'd overcome significant adversity before, but 2025's play has forecasted a different outcome — one Hazen was not comfortable banking on.

"Even when we haven't been in a playoff spot, we've fought," Hazen said. "Unfortunately, this team wasn't playing at a caliber or a way that I felt the same."

"I have to make those decisions, and those baseball decisions don't always align with what I know the fans want to see.

"I respect that, and we understand, and I don't do that lightly. It's very complicated to make that decision given how all in we went in at the beginning of the season," Hazen said.

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