Sources -- Mariners finalizing trade for D-backs' Eugenio Suarez - ESPN
The Seattle Mariners are finalizing a trade for third baseman Eugenio Suárez, landing the most coveted power bat of trade deadline season from the Arizona Diamondbacks for three prospects, sources told ESPN on Wednesday night.
The deal, which is pending a medical review, will send first baseman Tyler Locklear and right-handers Juan Burgos and Hunter Cranton to the Diamondbacks, who already had dealt first baseman Josh Naylor to Seattle less than a week earlier.
Suárez, 34, ranks fifth in the majors with 36 home runs and rejoins a Mariners team with which he spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
With a lineup that now will include Suárez, Naylor, American League MVP favorite Cal Raleigh, center fielder Julio Rodríguez and outfielder Randy Arozarena, the Mariners have remade what once was a tepid offense into one of the most dangerous in baseball. And with a rotation featuring Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, George Kirby and Luis Castillo complementing a bullpen of Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash, Gabe Speier and the just-acquired Caleb Ferguson, Seattle is primed to make a run in October.
First the Mariners need to get there.
At 57-52, they are currently tied for the final wild-card playoff spot in the AL with the Texas Rangers, whom they host for a four-game series starting Thursday. Seattle had spent much of Thursday in the running for closer Jhoan Duran, who eventually was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies by the Minnesota Twins. The Mariners pivoted back to Suárez, who will be a free agent after the season, and struck the deal with the Diamondbacks days after the slugger was hit in the left index finger with a 96 mph fastball. After X-rays returned negative and Suárez sat out one game, he returned Wednesday, going 1-for-4 with a