Seattle Mariners May Not Be Able to Make the Big Trade They Desperately Need to Make
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The Seattle Mariners would be well-served to acquire slugging third baseman Eugenio Suarez from the Arizona Diamondbacks at the trade deadline (or before), for several reasons.
First, Suarez knows Seattle and the M's clubhouse, having played with several of these players in 2022 and 2023. Second, he provides the thump and power in the middle of the order that this team needs, as he has 25 homers and 67 RBIs. And while he still strikes out a lot, he's got a .253 batting average as well. He's a free agent at the end of the year, so the money-conscious Mariners wouldn't need to worry about a long-term financial commitment.
Acquiring Suarez is also the cleanest roster fit, as it allows Ben Williamson to head back to Triple-A and allows the team to keep Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone and Donovan Solano.
There's only one problem, he might not be available at all. The D-backs enter play on Sunday at 41-41 and four games back in the National League wild card race, but they seem committed to staying in the race as long as possible.
Here's what Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote on Sunday:
The Arizona Diamondbacks continue to tell suitors they aren’t ready to sell after going 14-9 in June, but they play 20 games in July against teams with winning records beginning with a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants.
And here's what Buster Olney of ESPN told the Refuse to Lose podcast this Thursday:
Someone I spoke with yesterday (Wednesday) about the Diamondbacks told me Mike Hazen, their general manager, 'Yeah, he'll never sell. ' Like that's not in his DNA. As long as the team is competitive, he's going to want to ride it out. So, you can speculate with me me about how Suarez and (Josh) Naylor would be a great fit for them, but we don't even know if the Diamondbacks are actually going to be out there selling in what looks to be a really thin buyer's market.
The Mariners enter play on Sunday at 42-40 through 82 games. They are 6.5 games back in the American League West, but they currently lead the battle for the third and final wild card spot.
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