Reds have expressed interest in Eugenio Suarez

The Mariners are not the only of Eugenio Suárez’s former teams who are eyeing the slugging third baseman. C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports that the Reds have been in contact with the Diamondbacks to express interest. However, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com characterizes a deal coming together between those teams as a “long shot.” Along with Seattle, the Cubs and Yankees have been linked to Suárez in recent days.

Suárez is the top impending free agent hitter available. The D-Backs have straddled the buy/sell line for weeks but probably sealed their fate as deadline sellers by getting swept by the Astros. That negates their sweep of the Cardinals coming out of the All-Star Break and drops them back to three games below .500. They’re 5.5 back of the final playoff spot with four teams to surpass. Feinsand, Jon Heyman of The New York Post, and John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM have all suggested this evening that they’re likely to sell at this point. They face the Pirates and Tigers for three games apiece up to the deadline.

Both series are on the road, meaning Suárez probably played his final home game as a Diamondback this afternoon. The 34-year-old is playing on a $15MM salary. That was a club option on the seven-year contract extension that Suárez initially signed with Cincinnati in March 2018. He played seven seasons with the Reds overall, earning down-ballot MVP support in his best years.

Suárez looked to be on the downswing when the Reds packaged him alongside Jesse Winker to the Mariners coming out of the 2022 lockout. Seattle traded him to Arizona two years later. Suárez started his first season with the Diamondbacks so slowly that he was on the verge of getting benched in June. He transformed into one of the hottest hitters in baseball around last year’s All-Star Break and hasn’t let up. He leads the National League with 36 homers this season. Over the past calendar year, only Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge have hit more home runs. Judge, Ohtani and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are the three qualified hitters with a higher OPS than Suárez’s .938 in that span.

Arizona could — and almost certainly would — make a qualifying offer if they held him through season’s end. Their dwindling playoff chances make a trade more likely. They’d get a stronger return than one compensatory draft pick. Arizona could also prioritize upper minors talent that could make an impact next season rather than wait for a draftee who wouldn’t arrive until 2027-28 at the earliest. Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reported last week that the Snakes intend to prioritize controllable pitching in trade returns. Corbin Burnes will miss most or all of next season, while Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly are impending free agents.

Rosecrans reports that the D-Backs have some interest in Cincinnati pitching prospect Chase Petty, who could be one possible piece in a larger trade package. A former Minnesota first-round pick who was traded to the Reds for Sonny Gray, Petty made his MLB debut this season. He has been bombed for 14 runs (13 earned) in six innings over his first three starts. Petty has a 4.14 ERA with a 23.3% strikeout rate while walking nearly 11% of opponents across 15 Triple-A outings.

While this hasn’t been a good year, Petty is a 22-year-old who sits in the 95-96 MPH range with his fastball and ranks as Cincinnati’s #5 prospect at Baseball America. The Reds aren’t going to trade last year’s #2 overall pick Chase Burns for a rental. That should also be true of 2023 seventh overall selection Rhett Lowder, who has battled forearm and oblique injuries this year. Petty is probably the organization’s next-best pitching prospect.

Cincinnati is 2.5 games back in the Wild Card race with two teams to jump. The Cardinals are one game behind them. Cincinnati needs offense generally and would particularly benefit from a righty bat who can improve upon their dismal .219/.298/.348 team line against lefty pitching. An outfielder makes the most sense, though they could add at third base and use Noelvi Marte more frequently in right field after testing that out over the weekend.