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Poll: Who Will Sign Eugenio Suarez?

By | at January 22, 2026 5:56pm CDT

With Cody Bellinger now off the market, just one impact bat remains available in free agency: third baseman Eugenio Suarez. Coming off a 49-homer campaign in 2025, the 34-year-old seemed to be one of the premier mid-tier free agents available in free agency this winter. His market has been rather quiet for most of the winter, however. Some of that can surely be attributed to age, as teams are often hesitant about how strikeout-heavy sluggers like Suarez will age as they enter their mid-thirties. A tough stretch run in Seattle where Suarez hit just .189/.255/.428 across 53 games following a midseason trade might also raise some eyebrows. Even so, the upside Suarez demonstrated last year is tremendous and could be a game changer for a lineup in need of a boost. The question is: which team will step up to land him? A look at some of the options:

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox are a somewhat obvious fit for Suarez’s services after the club missed out on reuniting with Alex Bregman earlier this month. That leaves a clear hole in the team’s infield, and Suarez is by far the best option to plug that hole remaining on the free agent market. The slugger would also offer home run power that the team lacked throughout 2025, a deficiency that led them to get involved in the markets for Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso earlier this winter. With that said, however, the team’s pivot towards signing Ranger Suarez after missing on Bregman has been coupled with a focus on pitching and run prevention. Suarez is a lackluster defender at third base already and those skills only figure to decline as he ages, so the Red Sox might prefer to pursue the trade market, where younger players like Nico Hoerner, Isaac Paredes, and Brendan Donovan could be available.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates stand out as an excellent fit for Suarez on paper. After trading Ke’Bryan Hayes to the Reds last summer, they have a gaping hole at third base that Suarez could fill. Adding Suarez to the lineup would also lend credibility to the Pirates’ effort to contend this year. Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn, Bryan Reynolds, and Oneil Cruz are a solid group of bats in the heart of Pittsburgh’s order, but a big righty bat to help balance those lefties out a bit more would go a long way to adding some credibility to the club’s lineup. The biggest question for Pittsburgh might be whether the sides can find common ground at all; the Pirates have already spent quite a bit more than usual this winter, and it’s unclear where exactly their limit for spending is. From Suarez’s perspective, meanwhile, he might prefer to sign with a more surefire contender if Pittsburgh isn’t the clear best offer available to him.

Seattle Mariners

Early in the offseason, it seemed likely that Suarez would be headed elsewhere after the 2025 season. That’s sensible enough, as he had just wrapped up his second stint in Seattle and struggled with elevated strikeout rates relative to his career norms both times thanks to the difficult hitting environment at T-Mobile Park. Once Jorge Polanco signed elsewhere, however, reporting suggested an openness on the part of Seattle to reuniting with Suarez, as he could serve as a bridge to the team’s up-and-coming young infielders in Cole Young and Colt Emerson. While Suarez’s past struggles in Seattle create some cause for concern, it’s nonetheless not hard to see him putting together another solid season like the one he delivered for the Mariners in 2022, when he swatted 31 homers with a 132 wRC+ despite a strikeout rate north of 30%.

Other Options

While the above three teams are the most obvious fits for Suarez’s services, they aren’t the only plausible options. The Cubs were connected to Suarez earlier this winter. The Reds are very familiar with the slugger and spent the early part of the offseason looking to add a power-hitting bat to the middle of their lineup. The Phillies tried to sign Bo Bichette early this month but came up empty in those efforts. The Padres could use a big bat for first base or DH, particularly one that bats righty to complement Gavin Sheets. The Marlins have an affinity for high-powered, strikeout-heavy sluggers (Kyle Stowers, Owen Caissie) and a hole at third base that Suarez could credibly fill. The A’s recently tried to land Nolan Arenado to fill their hole at third base, and Suarez would be a great fit at the team’s homer-friendly ballpark.

All of those potential suitors come with caveats, however. The Cubs seem far less likely to be interested in Suarez after adding Bregman, and would need to push top prospect Moises Ballesteros out of the lineup to make room for him. The Reds have seemed reluctant to spend big this winter after missing out on Schwarber. The Phillies pivoted from Bichette to J.T. Realmuto and might not have room in the budget to pursue Suarez, especially if they can’t trade Alec Bohm. It’s unclear if the Padres have the budget space to mount a credible pursuit of Suarez, either. The same goes for the Marlins and the A’s, with both teams also suffering from the same flaw as Pittsburgh as teams that could be unappealing to free agents due to their struggles to contend in recent years.

Where do MLBTR readers think Suarez will ultimately land? Will he replace Bregman in Boston, transform the Pirates’ lineup, or return to Seattle? Is there another team out there that could sneak into the sweepstakes as a dark horse and come out on top? Have your say in the poll below:

Who Will Sign Eugenio Suarez?

  • Mariners 23% (3,247)
  • Pirates 22% (3,061)
  • Red Sox 21% (3,016)
  • Reds 10% (1,363)
  • Other (Specify in Comments) 8% (1,065)
  • Phillies 5% (771)
  • Athletics 5% (722)
  • Padres 3% (448)
  • Cubs 2% (228)
  • Marlins 2% (216)

Total votes: 14,137

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