The Detroit Tigers are expected to have a busy day as the hours tick away to Thursday’s trade deadline. Sitting in first place in the American League Central, the Tigers have already made steps toward a playoff push with Monday’s trade for Chris Paddack and Randy Dobnak and could be looking to make one more move to bring it all together.
With that in mind, Tigers fans may have gone to bed on Wednesday night feeling like it was Christmas Eve. But as most of them woke up on Thursday morning, it was a player who used to call Detroit home being placed under someone else’s tree.
Tigers Trade Target Eugenio Suárez Sent to Mariners in Midnight Deal
According to multiple reports, including from ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners reached an agreement on a trade involving former Tigers third baseman and current trade target Eugenio Suárez on Wednesday night. The deal will also see first baseman Tyler Locklear, reliever Juan Burgos and minor league pitcher Hunter Cranton heading to Arizona and will officially be announced on Thursday, pending a physical.
The Mariners were focused on bringing Suárez back to Seattle, where the 34-year-old played two seasons, hitting .234/.327/.423 with 53 homers and 183 RBI during the 2022 and 2023 campaigns. But while Seattle got a big boost to the offense, Tigers fans were hoping for a similar boost to enhance their lineup.
Suárez began his career in the Tigers system and made his major league debut with the team in 2014. After hitting .242/.316/.336 in 85 games in his rookie year, Detroit traded him along with minor league pitcher Jonathon Crawford to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for pitcher Alfredo Simón. Since then, he’s developed into one of the league’s best power-hitting third basemen, including a 49-homer campaign with the Reds in 2019 and continued his power surge this season with the Diamondbacks.
A monster campaign where Suárez is hitting .248/.320/.576 with 36 homers and 87 RBI made him a popular trade target among Tigers fans. But president of baseball operations Scott Harris and general manager Jeff Greenberg may not have felt the same way.
The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen reported earlier this week that the Tigers were not inclined to move any top 100 prospects in a trade for Suárez – although Arizona didn’t receive one in the proposed deal – and also intimated Detroit is more focused on acquiring bullpen help ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
All of this adds up to what could have been with Suárez off to Seattle. But the Tigers must feel confident about their lineup or have a cheaper option in mind as they look to bolster their odds of a deep October run.