Would a Reunion With This Former Cincinnati Reds Infielder Make Sense?

The Cincinnati Reds are reportedly aggressively pursuing upgrades as the Trade Deadline approaches. Eugenio Suarez has been widely reported be available but is it just our hearts as Reds fans that are convincing us this makes sense, or is there actual substance to the idea of a reunion?

Let’s start with Suarez and the year he is having. It’s MVP-worthy. He won’t win it because of this guy in Los Angeles named Ohtani, but he will be very high on the list of finalists.

Suarez has an OPS+ of 152, which means he is 52% better than the league average hitter. He is also 21% better, right now, than he was in 2019 when he hit 49 bombs in a Reds uniform.

He leads the national league in homers and he leads MLB in RBIs. Sounds like a dream bat to put in the middle of your lineup.,

Fielding is a different story. Suarez has always been a guy that the Defensive Runs Saved metric didn’t like, but other statistics like Outs Above Average said he was an average fielder. This year, both stats agree he’s not a good glove. Both have him in the negative.

It’s also worth noting that he is on an expiring contract. Suarez is on the club option year of the contract he signed with the Reds back in 2018. The deal was for seven years, $66 million with a club option for $15 million.

The reason this is all so interesting to me is because Noelvi Marte played right field on Sunday. This would seem to be a precursor to finding ways of getting Marte’s bat in the lineup at a position other than third base. That better not be for Santiago Espinal’s sake.

Or course, Marte getting time in the outfield in and of itself does not mean a deal is imminent for Suarez. It should be, though. The Reds could and should make this happen.

Suarez is probably the most coveted player available at this year’s deadline. That means the Yankees and any other team with an aggressive front office will be calling the Diamondbacks. The Reds have the prospect pool to compete with any of their offers.

Reds general manager Brad Meador said recently that the Reds are “not going to do something that sets us back over the next five years right now.” That doesn’t count them out of the running for Suarez, though.

The Diamondbacks are reportedly looking for young pitching prospects. What a coincidence, the Reds have LOTS of those!

Our Reds fan hearts would be full if the Reds went and got Suarez, but it would also make baseball sense. Adding Suarez to this lineup would really transform the Reds into a bonafide playoff contender.