Diamondbacks acquire third baseman Eugenio Suarez in deal with Mariners

The Diamondbacks filled a hole at third base on Wednesday afternoon, acquiring slugger Eugenio Suarez from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for two players.

Suarez, 32, is a solid defensive third baseman who has been a fairly reliable source of power for most of the past decade.  Last season, he hit .232 with 22 homers and 96 RBIs, playing in all 162 games for the Mariners. He also led the league with 214 strikeouts.

“We have been looking for an everyday third baseman,” Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen said. “We feel like this is a guy who adds a power element, good defender, everyday player at a position, as you know, we’ve been platooning for a few years now. I think it adds a little stability to that spot.”

It appears the Diamondbacks were able to make the deal happen at a relatively low price point in terms of player currency — they gave up a hard-throwing but unproven reliever in Carlos Vargas and a light-hitting catcher in Seby Zavala, who was on waivers two months ago — because they were willing to absorb the remainder of Suarez’s contract.

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Suarez is owed $11 million next year and has a $15 million club option for 2025 with a $2 million buyout. The move amounts to a salary dump for a Mariners front office that was under pressure to lower its payroll, according to a source.

Vargas has a big arm — he sits in the upper-90s with his fastball, often touching 100 mph – but has struggled to put it all together. He made only five appearances in the majors last year, giving up three runs in 4 2/3 innings. He had a 7.02 ERA in Triple-A Reno, where he issued 32 walks with 36 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings. The Diamondbacks acquired him a year ago from the Cleveland Guardians.

Zavala, whom the Diamondbacks claimed off waivers from the Chicago White Sox in September, is a career .210 hitter with a .622 OPS in 514 plate appearances in the big leagues. He is regarded as a strong defender.

Suarez’s defense has fluctuated from year to year in his career, usually settling around average, but last year he rated as one of the better defensive third basemen in baseball, compiling 11 outs above average, according to Statcast data.

“Our scouts said that he really worked hard this season on his defense,” Hazen said. “That’s going to be something we’re going to continue to push. As you know, that’s an area of our team we pride ourselves on and will continue to pride ourselves on. Everything we gathered from his work ethic and commitment to being a really good defender, a really good player, I think he is going to fit in nicely with how we approach things.”

One way Suarez does not fit well with the contact-oriented Diamondbacks is in how often he strikes out. He does not chase much but he has one of the highest whiff rates in baseball.

“We’re still going to work hard to push contact for Eugenio and for our entire team,” Hazen said. “I think there’s a certain value in that for us. I think there’s also an on-base and power element to his game, and there’s tradeoffs there.”

With right-handed hitting outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Tommy Pham possibly departing as free agents, Suarez brings another right-handed bat to the lineup.

Hazen said that since the Diamondbacks did not trade “from the top of our farm system,” they still have prospect capital available to fill other holes on the roster. He said the club also has payroll space to be aggressive on the free-agent market.

“Both of those avenues are wide open for us,” Hazen said.

The club still wants to add a starting pitcher and right-handed options in the outfield and at designated hitter.

“We have a lot of things to take care of this offseason,” Hazen said. “We have a lot of things on our to-do list to put our team back together. You can’t do five things until you do one thing. This was a player (Suarez) that we liked, that we targeted, and we felt it was an acquisition that didn’t shut us off from doing other things as we went into the offseason.”

It is the latest significant deal the Diamondbacks have struck with the Mariners and their GM, Jerry Dipoto, in Hazen’s tenure. Seven years ago, they acquired pitcher Taijuan Walker and infielder Ketel Marte in Hazen’s first trade as Diamondbacks’ GM. In July, they hooked up on the trade for closer Paul Sewald. In between, they flipped outfielder Kyle Lewis for outfielder/catcher Cooper Hummel in November 2022.

“When you have conversations with Jerry, he’s very direct and when he says that he’s going to do something, I take him at his word,” Hazen said. “And it seems to speed up the process.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks acquire 3B Eugenio Suarez in deal with Mariners