Mariners land Eugenio Suárez: 3 thoughts on what trade means for Seattle
Eugenio Suárez doesn’t instantly make the Seattle Mariners the favorite in the AL West going into the final two months of the regular season. There’s still ground to make up on Houston and a massive series with suddenly surging Texas beginning Thursday night. And Suárez, who flew back with the Mariners from Sacramento after Wednesday night’s blockbuster trade, will be in the lineup Thursday.
But his arrival serves several purposes — both at the plate and in the clubhouse — that give the Mariners one of the deepest batting orders in the American League; the kind that looks capable of making some postseason noise as long as they get there.
Here are three things to consider about what the Suárez deal means for the Mariners:
That’s a lot of home runs
The 36 home runs Suárez has already hit this season are the most for any player in history traded in-season, topping the 34 Mark McGwire hit in 1997 before he was traded from Oakland to St. Louis. Combined with the 41 home runs from Cal Raleigh, that’s a lot of power suddenly in the middle of the Mariners’ lineup.
According to OptaSTATS, the Mariners will be the second team in baseball history to enter August with two players having already hit 35 homers with any team in the same season. The other team? The 1961 Yankees with Roger Maris (40) and Mickey Mantle (39).
Oh, and those Yankees went on to win the World Series.
The 36 homers are already the most for Suárez since he hit a career-high 49 in 2019 when he was still with Cincinnati and a massive uptick over the last two years when he hit 22 in his final season with the Mariners and 30 last year with the Diamondbacks.
Why the increase? A career-best hard-hit rate and a new launch angle on his swing. Per MLB Statcast data, Suárez has a hard-hit rate – considered a ball hit with an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher – of 51.1% far surpassing his previous career-best of 45.6% in 2018.
His attack angle is also significantly different. Before this season, Suárez never had a launch angle of higher than 19.9 degrees. This year, it’s 23.2 degrees. He’s hitting the ball harder more often and putting it in the air 69.9% of the time, also a career-high.
Put it all together and you have a hitter that since June 1 has 21 homers and an OPS of .995.
Why did he leave in the first place?
It wasn’t Suárez’s decision to have the “Good Vibes Only” attitude leave Seattle after the 2023 season. In a clear move to dump salary, the M’s traded Suárez to the Diamondbacks in exchange for Carlos Vargas and Seby Zavala.
Was it a $15 million mistake to let Suárez go? Well, considering that during the 2024 season the Mariners had a combined 12 homers, 49 RBI and a .643 OPS combined from their third basemen and missed the playoffs by one game, then yes not having Suárez and his 30 homers last season in the lineup could be viewed as a clear mistake. While the reunion doesn’t rectify the decision to trade him in the first place, it does soften the blow, especially if his return leads to something special this fall.
It also was a second message from the front office to the current clubhouse after the trade for Josh Naylor last week. They believe in this group.
“This is what we talked about in spring training when I was looking to sign here long-term, these were the things we talked about. These moments,” Raleigh said. “It makes me feel good about those guys following through. We played good enough, not great, to make some moves at the deadline and they came through for us. It’s on us now.”
What are these good vibes?
M’s manager Dan Wilson has not looked happier after a loss this season than he did on Wednesday night when Suarez’s name was mentioned. He wasn’t managing the M’s the last time Suárez put on a Seattle uniform, but he understood the magnitude of what the his arrival means.
“That’s a really good thing and it’s exciting, if it’s true,” Wilson said.
J.P. Crawford was in the clubhouse when Suárez was here last. He appreciated the consistency Suárez brought.
“He’s the same guy every day. Doesn’t matter if you’re slumping or hot. He’s the same guy. He brings everyone together. He has that natural leadership mentality and everyone hovers around him,” Crawford said.
Likability is an intangible that’s hard to quantify in regard to what it means for on-field results. But it seems to be a quality those who were around Suárez during the 2022 playoff run believe will help going down the stretch this season.
“Just how cool, calm and collected he was,” Crawford said. “It’s not even about the playoffs. It’s about every day. He brought that same energy every day and just to have him back here is really great.”