The slugging 3B who could alter this year’s Deadline … and pennant race

With the July 31 Trade Deadline rapidly approaching, there is no shortage of intriguing teams and players that could alter the trajectory of this season.

One of those teams is the D-backs, who entered Thursday with a 46-47 record and 4 1/2 games back of a Wild Card spot in a hypercompetitive NL playoff picture. Arizona is certainly in the playoff mix to go for it, but the D-backs also have a plethora of quality players that are impending free agents.

There’s Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen on the pitching side. There’s first baseman Josh Naylor on the hitting side. But no D-backs player could make a more significant impact on this year’s Trade Deadline than Eugenio Suárez and, as a byproduct, the 2025 playoff race.

In his first 91 games, the soon-to-be 34-year-old third baseman posted a .251/.320/.563 slash line with 29 home runs and 2.6 Wins Above Replacement (FanGraphs). What’s more is Suárez -- who was selected to his second career All-Star Game this year -- is having a late-career resurgence that extends back to last year.

Here’s why Suárez has become one of the game’s premier power threats over the last year and why he could be one of the most valuable players moved at the upcoming Deadline.

The following numbers are entering Thursday's games.

Suárez has mashed this year … and for most of the last calendar year

Suárez is near the top of the 2025 leaderboards for any power category you look up.

He’s tied for fourth with 29 home runs. His .563 slugging percentage is better than all but four qualified hitters. On April 26, we saw Suárez at his peak when he became the 19th player in MLB history with four home runs in a game and the first player since 2017. And based on his current trajectory, Suárez is tracking for a potential 50-homer season and could surpass his career high 49 home runs he hit in 2019 with the Reds.

With 305 career home runs and five 30-homer seasons -- he's one homer away from his sixth such season -- Suárez is one of the best power hitters of his generation, but he seemingly turned back the clock around this time last year and is slugging like he did in his earlier years. Just when you thought he would be entering the decline stage of his career, he’s instead been one of the best power hitters over the last year.

Over the last calendar year, Suárez is hitting .277/.332/.587 with 52 home runs in 162 games. The only other players with at least 50 home runs in that time? That would be Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Cal Raleigh and Kyle Schwarber. Suárez’s 149 wRC+ ranks eighth among qualified hitters -- better than the likes of Corbin Carroll, Pete Alonso and James Wood -- while his 5.9 WAR only trails 10 position players.

This is a star-level performance that is, quite frankly, beyond anything he’s ever done previously in his career. Even during his peak, Suárez topped out at 4.4 wins (2018) and a 135 wRC+ (also in 2018). Most encouraging is that Suárez has essentially earned what he’s been doing over the last year and has made serious improvements in various Statcast categories.

Suárez’s career numbers in Statcast era vs. the last calendar year

xBA: .238 vs. .257
xSLG: .450 vs. .531
Barrel rate: 11.0% vs. 14.4%
Hard-hit rate: 39.9% vs. 50.0%
Avg. exit velocity: 89.0 mph vs. 90.8 mph

1. Cubs

The Cubs rank dead last in OPS (.533) and WAR (-0.5) at third base. For a team that only has a two-game lead over the Brewers in the NL Central and in something resembling win-now mode (you might have heard Kyle Tucker will hit free agency this offseason), it’s untenable to have this big of a weakness.

Matt Shaw could become a quality big-leaguer some day, but right now, Suárez could not be a better fit for the Cubs. Slot Suárez in the middle of that Cubs lineup and all of the sudden, opposing teams are trying to deal with Pete-Crow Armstrong, Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch, Suárez and much more.

The Cubs are already one of the most potent offenses in baseball. Adding Suárez into the equation just might make them the most feared offense.

2. Yankees

The Yankees have struggled over the last month, which has led to the Blue Jays taking over first place in the AL East. An offense that was one of baseball’s best the first two months has played like a middle-of-the-pack group since the calendar flipped to June.

You can argue that the teams below the Yankees here could use Suárez more, but New York really needs an injection of offense to pair to help support Aaron Judge. There’s also another reason this trade became more sensible in recent days.

After plenty of drama about where Jazz Chisholm Jr. should play in the infield, the Yankees moved him back to second base earlier this week and DFA'd DJ LeMahieu, opening a spot at third base and making a Suárez trade all the more sensible.

3. Tigers

Suárez was signed by the Tigers as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2008 and made his MLB debut with the team in 2014. He was traded to the Reds the next offseason, where he spent the next half-decade of his career.

It’d be something of a full circle moment for Suárez to return to a Tigers team that boasts the best record in the American League. Similar to the Yankees, there are other teams that could use Suárez more, except for the fact that Detroit could have the easiest path of any team to the World Series this year and should be making moves to create the absolute best playoff roster.

The Tigers are roughly middle of the pack at third base, but the club has enough players with positional versatility to make Suárez an option at the hot corner. Adding Suárez into the mix further deepens a strong Tigers lineup and a Detroit squad that has a serious chance to make it to the Fall Classic in an American League playoff field that is not nearly as good as the National League.

4. Reds

Speaking of the Reds, Cincinnati has had worse production at third base than any team outside of their division-rival Cubs. 23-year-old Noelvi Marte could be a fine enough option at third base in the long run and has been good in limited time this year (.824 OPS in 24 games), but Suárez helps in the immediate now for a Reds team that is just two games back of a Wild Card spot.

The logic here is pretty straightforward. The Reds have a real shot at the playoffs, rank roughly middle of the pack in a lot of key offensive categories and have received next to nothing at third base. Plus, we’ve already seen how Suárez’s power plays in the offense-friendly confines of Great American Ballpark.

5. Brewers

You might be sensing a theme: the NL Central playoff hopefuls could use some help at third base.

The Brewers rank in the bottom five OPS and slugging at third base and their offense as a whole could use some more thump (their 89 home runs are only more than seven teams). Suárez represents a very Brewers-y trade target as he likely won’t cost much to acquire and could help push Milwaukee into the playoffs again.

6. Mets

Every additional win could prove pivotal for a Mets team that is in a heated battle for the NL East division with the Phillies.

Third base wasn’t expected to be an issue for the Mets given what Mark Vientos did last season (.837 OPS and 27 home runs). Vientos has struggled, however, with a .613 OPS. Vientos has seen more time at DH, which allowed Brett Baty to play third base, but he too hasn’t been lighting it up (.704 OPS).

Truthfully, the Mets could be fine banking on Vientos and Baty being fine at third base, but if they want to make it through a daunting NL playoff field to make their first World Series since 2015, this is the type of move they need to make.