How Cincinnati’s pact with Eugenio Suárez could end up a two-year deal
The Reds have a Qualifying Offer up their sleeve.
DETROIT, MI - AUGUST 02: Eugenio Suarez #7 of the Cincinnati Reds looks from the dugout steps while blowing a bubble during a game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on August 02, 2020, in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) | Getty Images Slugger Eugenio Suárez is fresh off a season that saw him thwack 49 home runs and be valued at 3. 8 fWAR (3.
6 bWAR). He reached free agency at season’s end and signed a one-year deal to return to the Cincinnati Reds, the club that traded for him prior to the 2015 season – and the club for whom he thwacked 189 homers across 7 years previously in his career. Despite the successes at the plate Suárez saw for the bulk of the 2025 season, the Reds managed to land him for just a $15 million guarantee for 2026, well below the three-year, $63 million predicted by the fine folks at MLB Trade Rumors earlier in the offseason.
Perhaps it was the high strikeout rate, or the suppressed offensive numbers Suárez put up in the tough hitting environment in Seattle, but it’s pretty clear something suppressed the now 34 year old slugger’s value enough that he landed in Cincinnati’s lap for a year. It certainly could have had something to do with the nature of this particular free agent class, one that featured a number of high-caliber sluggers. Kyle Schwarber and Kyle Tucker, for instance, were out there on the open market, as were each of Pete Alonso, Josh Naylor, Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman, and Cody Bellinger for every team looking to add thump to their lineup.
Suárez, it seems, got overlooked just enough by other teams for the Reds to be able to pounce for cheap, and there’s every chance that Geno gets to hit free agency next year – when there’s expected to be a much lighter supply of sluggers – with a bit more leverage. But, what if the Reds have already positioned themselves to have a little leverage here, too? Suárez, who’ll turn 35 years old in July, has somehow managed to make it to this point in a career that’s seen him hit 325 homers and accrue 33.
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