Who wouldn’t be? It shouldn’t have to be a reunion in the first place!
The Cincinnati Reds need power, power from the corner infield, and someone who can mash left-handed pitching as the July 31st trade deadline nears. Anyone who’s lived anywhere but under a rock the last four years knows that there’s a guy out there on the trade block who’s still playing on an incredibly team-friendly contract with the Reds name on it who’d be an absolutely perfect fit, both in the lineup and in the dugout.
Eugenio Suarez has absolutely obliterated baseballs for the Arizona Diamondbacks lately, his 36 total dingers this year pacing the National League. And ever since the Reds originally dealt him to the Seattle Mariners back in 2022, they’ve been searching for someone, anyone to replace his production.
You can do the math on how much money they sunk into their options if you’d like. Mike Moustakas and Jeimer Candelario sure made a whole lot more money than Geno over the last handful of years just for the Reds to have dumped Suarez in the first place.
Mercifully, as the Diamondbacks enter a trade season where it looks more and more like they’re going to sell, Suarez – who’ll finally be a free agent at season’s end – has become one of the most sought-after trade chips at the deadline. According to C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic, you can add the Reds to the list of teams who have formally inquired about Geno’s services.
It’s the kind of move for the kind of player where you’d deal first and answer questions later regarding lineup construction and who plays where. We’ve already seen resident 3B Noelvi Marte get some time out in RF, something that would make sliding Geno into the 3B spot a lot more seamless should it materialize.
Obviously, the Reds would have to outbid the entirety of the rest of baseball to land Geno once again. Teams such as the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, etc. have all been linked to the slugger, and names like Chase Petty have been floated by C. Trent already when it comes to the type of headliner this deal would take to even get Cincinnati in the conversation.
Am I optimistic this front office will get that aggressive this deadline? I’m not, though it’s at least encouraging to see that they’re clearly aware that there’s a need (and an urgency) that is firmly in place with this 53-50 club and manager Terry Francona.
Stay tuned!