{"id":113256,"date":"2026-02-02T17:20:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T22:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=113256"},"modified":"2026-02-02T17:20:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T22:20:39","slug":"eugenio-suarez-and-the-reds-reunite-full-fit-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/02\/02\/eugenio-suarez-and-the-reds-reunite-full-fit-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Eugenio Su\u00e1rez and the Reds Reunite: Full Fit Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the offseason coming to an end soon, most of the major free agents have inked a new deal. However, fans were wondering when and where the free agent, who is coming off a 49-home-run season, will sign. The 34-year-old Eugenio Su\u00e1rez ended up reuniting with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/02\/01\/report-eugenio-suarez-signing-with-cincinatti-reds\/\" target=\"_self\">Reds<\/a> on a one-year, $15 million deal with a mutual option for the 2027 season.<\/p>\n<p>With this signing, the entire lineup of the Reds may be shuffled. How does he fit with this current edition of the Cincinnati Reds, one that is much different from the one he used to play with? How does the contract situation affect the subsequent offseason, and how will the positions be shifted on the field and in the lineup?<\/p>\n<h2>Su\u00e1rez\u2019s New Contract<\/h2>\n<p>Starting off easy, Su\u00e1rez essentially had to settle for a one-year deal worth $15 million, which was well below what people envisioned for him prior to the offseason. Many believed he would ink a three-year deal worth anywhere from $50 million to $60 million.<\/p>\n<p>The mutual option for 2027 will be worth $16 million, although mutual options are rarely exercised by both sides.<\/p>\n<h2>Su\u00e1rez\u2019s 2025 Season<\/h2>\n<p>Su\u00e1rez was one of the final big-time free agents to sign this winter. Especially with the low price tag, some are wondering why his market seemed so low despite him being an All-Star in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>His 2025 season was truly a tale of two seasons, first with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/01\/13\/arizona-diamondbacks-trade-for-nolan-arenado\/\" target=\"_self\">Diamondbacks<\/a>, then with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/02\/02\/seattle-mariners-logan-gilberts-pitch\/\" target=\"_self\">Mariners<\/a>. Su\u00e1rez played in 106 games for the Diamondbacks, where he rightfully earned his All-Star nod. He slashed .248\/.320\/.576 for an .897 OPS. Along with 36 home runs and a 142 OPS+, he was one of the best bats in the league at the time, and it was going to waste on a D-Backs team that was going towards selling at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n<p>The Mariners pulled the trigger for Su\u00e1rez, returning to Seattle after having last played there in 2023. Unfortunately for both him and the Mariners, he was unable to sustain the high-level offensive production as he regressed heavily. In 53 games for Seattle, he slashed just .189\/.255\/.428 for a .682 OPS and 94 OPS+. He was a below league-average hitter down the stretch for the Mariners, and his 13 home runs gave him a total of 49 on the year.<\/p>\n<p>Along with his age (34, turning 35 in June), the Mariners were content with letting him walk. Overall, for the season, here are Su\u00e1rez\u2019s stats:<\/p>\n<p>.228\/.298\/.526<\/p>\n<p>.824 OPS<\/p>\n<p>126 OPS+<\/p>\n<p>49 HR \/ 118 RBI<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Eugenio Su\u00e1rez ANNIHILATES this ball 455 feet for his 12th homer of the season! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jZl6APTeg7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/jZl6APTeg7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLB (@MLB) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLB\/status\/1921380188614484274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Why the \u201cCheap\u201d Contract?<\/h2>\n<p>On the surface, it is a bit difficult to understand how he ended up with a one-year deal at just $15 million. However, a quick glance can explain the hesitancy in signing him to a long-term deal or committing a big chunk of money to him.<\/p>\n<p>First of all, Su\u00e1rez strikes out at an extremely high rate and has always done so. He has led the league in strikeouts three separate times.<\/p>\n<p>189 SO &#8211; 2019<\/p>\n<p>196 SO &#8211; 2022<\/p>\n<p>214 SO &#8211; 2023<\/p>\n<p>With 196 strikeouts in 2025, he didn\u2019t lead the league, but he was at the top. His strikeout rate is almost always around 30%, which is obviously extremely high, and many teams are starting to turn against the three true outcome style of hitting. We saw how quickly it was for Su\u00e1rez\u2019s production to plummet as soon as the ball wasn\u2019t leaving the yard every other game.<\/p>\n<p>The truth is, when Su\u00e1rez isn\u2019t hitting home runs or doubles, he is essentially not producing much since he punches out so much.<\/p>\n<p>Chasing and swinging, and missing contribute to strikeouts, and Suarez does both of them as well. In 2025, he had a 31.0 Chase% (30th percentile) and a 33.3 Whiff% (4th percentile).<\/p>\n<p>Defense has been a point of emphasis in his game, too, as it regressed in 2025 after years of being above average.<\/p>\n<h2>Su\u00e1rez\u2019s Positional Fit<\/h2>\n<p>Positionally, Su\u00e1rez is a primary third baseman. However, with <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hayeske01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ke&#8217;Bryan Hayes<\/a> being a Gold Glover and under contract for years to come, Su\u00e1rez will have to move elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>First base seems like the top prospect, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/stewasa02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sal Stewart<\/a>\u2019s position for 2026, which is the only other position that suits Su\u00e1rez. This means that Su\u00e1rez will receive the bulk of his at-bats as a designated hitter. He will likely fill in at first base here or there or cover third base if Hayes ever goes down with an injury.<\/p>\n<p>Being a full-time DH is not for everybody, as some aren\u2019t used to sitting for half an hour in between plate appearances. For Su\u00e1rez, this will be his first time being a full-time DH, which is risky because of the possible adjustment period, but can also be helpful. He is 34 years old, and his defense has regressed already. Being a full-time DH will allow him to rest up and be as fresh as possible while also playing every day.<\/p>\n<h2>Reasons For Su\u00e1rez\u2019s Struggles<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s obvious that Su\u00e1rez did not perform well down the stretch for the Mariners, but there are plenty of factors that can explain the struggles. T-Mobile Park is one of the most difficult ballparks in MLB to hit in due to the large outfield and low elevation. Many players from past to present have expressed their frustrations when hitting there, stating that the balls seem to die right at or around the fence, no matter the quality of contact.<\/p>\n<p>A 53-game sample is also a small one when assessing a player\u2019s true abilities, and it would be easy to assume that his production on the season was somewhere between his 142 OPS+ from the first half and his 94 OPS+ from the second half. It is also a difficult adjustment when getting traded in the middle of the season, even if he has had prior experience with Seattle.<\/p>\n<h2>Su\u00e1rez\u2019s Perfect Fit With the Reds<\/h2>\n<p>With all the previous negativity and doubt comes the other side of the coin, one that is much more fun to discuss. Su\u00e1rez is a slugger who has a prior connection to Cincinnati, is a fan favorite, plays every day, and is a great locker room guy.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, some parts of the sentence are immeasurable intangible, but we have seen what a bad locker room can do to a team. This Reds group is relatively young and barely has any postseason experience, something that Suarez can bring.<\/p>\n<p>In Cincinnati, Su\u00e1rez will play in one of the more hitter-friendly ballparks home runs-wise, which just so happens to be his specialty. The Reds are a team lacking offense, especially in the power department, as <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/delacel01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elly De La Cruz<\/a>\u2019s 22 homers led the team. You can essentially book Suarez for 30 to 35 home runs in 2026, barring injury.<\/p>\n<p>This transitions into another elite trait of his, which is availability. Here are his games played every season of his career:<\/p>\n<p>2014: 85<\/p>\n<p>2015: 97<\/p>\n<p>2016: 159<\/p>\n<p>2017: 156<\/p>\n<p>2018: 143<\/p>\n<p>2019: 159<\/p>\n<p>2020: 57 (60-game season)<\/p>\n<p>2021: 145<\/p>\n<p>2022: 150<\/p>\n<p>2023: 162<\/p>\n<p>2024: 158<\/p>\n<p>2025: 159<\/p>\n<p>A guy who is good in the locker room, good at the plate, reliable, and a fan favorite is incredible for $15 million. There is a famous saying that there\u2019s no such thing as a bad one-year deal. If Su\u00e1rez struggles as he did in the second half of 2025, the Reds can simply let him walk or re-sign him at a lower price.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em><strong>(Top Image Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the offseason coming to an end soon, most of the major free agents have inked a new deal. However, fans were wondering when and where the free agent, who is coming off a 49-home-run season, will sign. The 34-year-old Eugenio Su\u00e1rez ended up reuniting with the Reds on a one-year, $15 million deal with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5447,"featured_media":113312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,2,1071],"tags":[124,761],"class_list":["post-113256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mariners","category-featured","category-mlb","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-eugenio-suarez"],"modified_by":"Matthew Nethercott, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5447"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113256"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113313,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113256\/revisions\/113313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}