Former MLB Exec Names Diamondbacks Slugger As Top Tigers Trade Target

The Detroit Tigers are one of the few teams that look to be surefire buyers ahead of the MLB trade deadline.

They have the best record in baseball and have built a healthy lead in the American League Central over the second-place Minnesota Twins.

There are no glaring weaknesses on the roster, with the Tigers receiving contributions from up and down their roster. The biggest holes that existed coming into the campaign have been filled admirably with players stepping up in a big way.

Alas, even the best teams could use some help ahead of the deadline to shore up some areas of the team.

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For Detroit, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to add a little more pop to their lineup, specifically at third base.

The Tigers have yet to find an everyday option at the hot corner this year.

Top prospect Jace Jung has failed with each Major League opportunity to this point. Javier Baez is coming back down to Earth and the same could happen to Zach McKinstry.

The owner of a career OPS+ of 84, he has a 120 in 2025, playing well above the level he is accustomed to previously in his career.

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Finding help at third base could very well be Detroit’s No. 1 priority, and Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) believes that Eugenio Suarez of the Arizona Diamondbacks is his favorite target for the team.

“Suárez began his major-league career with the Tigers in 2014, so it would only be fitting if he returned for the back end of his career to help the Tigers get to the World Series,” the former MLB executive wrote.

The veteran slugger would provide the Tigers with another bona fide power threat in their lineup, which was a major weakness coming into the year.

He has launched at least 30 home runs in three out of the last four campaigns and is on pace to do so again in 2025. Suarez is a true run producer as well, knocking in at least 79 RBI in all four of those seasons.

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His strikeout rate of 25.8% is still above the league average, but would be his lowest mark since the 2018 season, when he was an All-Star and recorded a rate of 23.4%.

Putting the ball in play more often means more damage being done with the bat and runs being produced.

Despite third base being a hole in the lineup, Detroit is still averaging 4.85 runs per game, which is sixth in the MLB.

Adding a player of Suarez’s caliber would lengthen the lineup and help balance things out with anywhere from 5-to-7 of the players in their starting lineup hitting from the left side of the plate.

He won’t offer much value anywhere else as a base runner or defender, but he can mash with the best of them.

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