The Diamondbacks may be in the market to move on their best offseason acquisition, as USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote in his Sunday Notes column that the Snakes are “willing to listen to offers” for the third baseman. Eugenio Suarez. That's perhaps some generous words, as Nightengale himself went on to note that Suarez, 33, has struggled so much that he may lose his everyday role at third base.
Suarez, acquired in a salary-driven trade that sent the backup holding Seby Zavala and hope to help Carlos Vargas for the cost-cutting Mariners, he earns $12MM this season and has a $15MM club option through the 2025 campaign in his contract. The Diamondbacks don't intend to exercise that option this time around, according to Nightengale, which is natural given Suarez's .200/.265/.317 blunder in his first 257 plate trips with Arizona.
While Suarez hasn't seen his already-strenuous strikeout rate rise much north — he hit 30.4% of games last year and is at 28.8% in 2024 — there are a number of troubling trends that suggest his decline isn't an early fluke. He chases prizes at the highest rate of his work and contacts converts at the lowest rate of work. His average exit velocity (87.5 mph) and strikeout rate (33.5%) are down from last year's levels (90.3 mph and 43%). Suarez hasn't seen a large percentage of his fly-balls be the infield fly variety, either; after hitting the infield just 10 times in 2022 and 2023, he has hit eight hitless pops this season.
Suarez actually got off to a hot start this season, and as his production started to slow down in the second half of April, his strikeout line up to that point in the season was above league average. Ever since the calendar turned to May, his bat has taken off. In his past 131 plate appearances, Suarez is hitting .161/.221/.280 for a 30.5% slugging percentage.
Finding Suarez a trade partner due to his recent slump and huge salary won't be easy. Typically, veterans in this situation are likely to be selected for assignment and released. But there are also at least one or two bad contract trades every offseason, with the Guardian/Dodgers trade last year. Noah Syndergaard again Amed Rosario stands as one recent example. With four players signed through at least 2026 and three through 2027, the D-backs may not want to take a long-term player, but trade Suarez for another free agent or perhaps someone signed in 2025 for a minimum annual amount. it would make some sense.
Despite his decline at the plate, Suarez has accounted for almost every inning at third base for the D-backs this season. Jace Peterson it started there before it was released. Rookie Blaze Alexander he made three appearances there (two starts). All three have come in the past 12 days, however, further proving Nightengale's assertion that Suarez could be pushed out of his regular position.
Alexander, 24, is a natural shortstop who hit .283/.345/.409 in his first 139 MLB plate appearances this season. That streak is fueled by the uneven level in which the right-handed Alexander is pitched. He saw about half of his plate appearances against lefties and tormented them with a .350/.409/.533 batting line. Against right-handed pitchers, Alexander's .224/.288/.299 slash doesn't look any better than Suarez's season-long numbers.
A higher variant for higher children would be Davison De Los Santos, who is in the midst of a breakout after failing to make the roster as a Rule 5 draft pick. In 238 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this season, the 20-year-old slugger is hitting a combined .358/.412 line. /.656 and 17 home runs. He also lowered his strikeout rate from 26% entering Double-A last year to 21.4%.
Overall, the D-backs rank 29th in the majors in terms of production from their third basemen, with a wRC+ rating. Their combined slash of .200/.258/.317 is 36% worse than average when measured by home park and major league run area, leading only the White Sox (.197/.248/.288, 52 wRC+).
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