Why Eugenio Suarez Is One Of The Hottest Free Agent Names Heading Into MLB's Winter Meetings

[Jason Ross]

Image courtesy of © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

As the Winter Meetings begin on Monday, December 8th, in earnest, the market for third baseman Eugenio Suarez, formerly of the Seattle Mariners, looks like it will be in full swing. Just yesterday, BBWA member Francys Romero connected the Chicago Cubs to a hitter, but don't expect them to be the only team that may have interest. So what makes Suarez such a hot name?

For starters, the league just doesn't have a lot of really good hitting third basemen right now. In 2025, third basemen had a 93 wRC+, lagging behind designated hitters (115 wRC+), first basemen (107 wRC+), right fielders (102 wRC+), left fielders (100 wRC+), and even shortstops (98 wRC+). Even catchers, usually the weakest-hitting position, posted a 94 wRC+ last year. What this means is that while we may traditionally consider the position to be one in which a team has a good hitter at, right now, league-wide, the position is kind of a problem for teams offensively. Last year, Suarez was 7th in wRC+ at the position and slugged 49 home runs. He stands out as a truly good hitter at the position, and he's currently available for just money, making him an attractive option for teams looking for help.

More than just positionally, Suarez may be the best "bang-for-your-buck" player if you're a believer in his bat. Alex Bregman, Diamond Centric's #3 ranked Free Agent, is predicted to get a contract of five years and $165 million (a $33m AAV). Bo Bichette, who could step in as someone's third baseman, is our number two-ranked free agent and predicted to get a seven-year, $175 million deal ($25m AAV). Compare that to our prediction for Suarez, a three-year, $55 million pact, and you can see that, in both years and total dollars, he's far lower than the other two options at the position. Sure, part of that is because Suarez is 34 years old and the other two are much younger, but if you aren't interested in a super-long contract, Suarez offers value. 

He also offers a bat of similar quality to the two other premium third basemen, based on 2025 numbers. Alex Bregman posted a 125 wRC+ on the year, and Eugenio Suarez posted a 124 wRC+. Bo Bichette had the best season of any of them, posting a 134 wRC+, but his career line of 122 wRC+ is right in line with Suarez in 2025. And if you're looking for home runs, Suarez's 49 was more than Bregman's (18) and Bichette's (18) combined. 

Not everything, however, is peaches-and-rainbows when it comes to the slugging third baseman. First, I'd be remiss if I didn't hit on the age thing a little more: Suarez will enter Opening Day next year at 34 years old and, on a three-year deal, would finish at 37. Hitters just are not keeping their value right now, league-wide. Four hitters last year, aged between 34 and 37, outperformed Suarez's 124 wRC+, while only 11 of the 23 managed a 100 wRC+. Of those four, only Giancarlo Stanton had a strikeout rate north of 27% who had a 100 wRC+ or better. Eugenio Suarez struck out 29% of the time last year and has done so for his last 4,000 plate appearances. How much longer he's capable of being a league-average (or better) hitter while striking out this often is certainly up for debate.

Beyond just the age and K% issues, another issue to keep an eye on: bat speed. Our very own Matt Trueblood brought it up in an article over on North Side Baseball when discussing fellow third baseman Alex Bregman, but the bat-speed-aging-curve is not in Suarez's favor, either. The former Mariner has fine bat-speed as of now, ranking in the 53rd percentile, but this will be something to monitor on Suarez because he doesn't offer you much outside of slugging right now; finishing with a .228/298/.526 line. Much of his power comes from his extreme pull-heavy approach, which allows him to use his fine, yet not elite, bat speed to generate power. 

Another red-flag indicator? Suarez far out-produced his expected data last season. While xData isn't the end-all, be-all, it can signal issues under the hood. Suarez was in the bottom third percentile of expected batting average last year, and while he posted a .347 wOBA, his xwOBA was just .316. Suarez has to generate his value offensively, and teams that look at expected data may be scared off by a player who's inching closer and closer to being a designated hitter because of his defensive limitations. 

This is the push-and-pull of Suarez; if you're a team in search of right-handed power and don't want to commit six (or more) years to either Alex Bregman or Bo Bichette, Suarez offers a lower level of entry and could outpace either offensively (especially in 2026). A team that is interested in his services is likely going to trade poor performance in 2028 for success immediately, but that's true of almost every contract on the free-agent market. Others may be scared off based on his age, expected dat, a and how poor defensively he regardlessss, if you're in that first group, there just aren't many other hitters who could offer what Suarez does on his contract, which creates a version of market scarcity, fueling his market and ramping up the speed in which we could see him sign. 

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[Brock Beauchamp]

I was rushing out the door before this went live, and I accidentally grabbed a photo of Randy Arozarena. Fixed now.

[Jason Wang]

On 12/8/2025 at 10:10 AM, Brock Beauchamp said:

I was rushing out the door before this went live, and I accidentally grabbed a photo of Randy Arozarena. Fixed now.

eh close enough, both Mariners :)