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Eugenio Suarez (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty
The Mariners are reuniting with Eugenio Suarez.
After fixing their hole at first base by acquiring Josh Naylor, the Mariners added the biggest power bat on the market, bringing Suarez back to where he played in 2022-2023. In return, Arizona received a potential everyday first baseman (Tyler Locklear) and two relief prospects (Juan Burgos and Hunter Cranton).
Mariners Receive
Eugenio Suarez, 3B
Age: 34
Suarez has become an ageless wonder. After hitting .271/.358/.572 with 49 home runs in 2019, he turned into an all-or-nothing slugger in 2020-2021. He hit .199/.293/.440 in those two years before being traded to the Mariners. He continued to hit homers, but slowly, he started to string together more consistent at-bats in his early 30s.
Another trade, to the D-backs seemed to rejuvenate him. After hitting .234/.327/.423 in his two years in Seattle, Suarez has hit .253/.320/.513 for the D-backs. He has already hit 36 home runs this season, the second-best mark of his career. Suarez is a well below-average runner nowadays. Defensively, he’s below-average at third base with an average arm, but the Mariners will be able to sub in Ben Williamson as needed as a defensive replacement.
Suarez’s power should be a massive boost. While Cal Raleigh leads the majors with 41 home runs, no other Mariner has hit more than 20.
Diamondbacks Receive
Tyler Locklear, 1B/3B
Age: 24
The Mariners’ No. 14 prospect, Locklear was a 2022 second-round pick out of VCU. He received a call-up to Seattle last summer, capping a speedy rise as he went from starting the season in Double-A Arkansas to getting promoted to Triple-A Tacoma in late May and then making his MLB debut on June 9. He wasn’t ready, as an 11-game stint and a later five-game cameo showed, but that .156/.224/.311 stint seemed to leave a lasting memory in the minds of the Mariners’ front office.
Locklear returned to Tacoma and got off to a slow start. But he’s been the best hitter in the PCL in recent weeks, hitting .422/.490/.807 in June with nine home runs in just 21 games. He’s slashing .316/.401/.542 overall this year with improved power (19 home runs in 98 games) and a 107.1 mph 90th percentile exit velocity to go with a max 112 mph exit velocity. But even when the Mariners were getting no production from first basemen Luke Raley and Donovan Solano, Locklear remained in Triple-A.
Eventually, Seattle…