All-Star slugger could provide Guardians with obvious fix for offensive woes 

It’s time for the Cleveland Guardians to address their offense. 

While they took a huge step toward helping their offense in the long-term by signing José Ramírez to a long-term extension, there’s still a clear need for some short-term offensive upgrades. 

And one of the best ways the Guardians to do that in the short-term would be by signing infielder Eugenio Suárez, who is still lingering in free agency despite putting together an All-Star 2025 campaign. 

Even if adding Eugenio Suárez would go against the Guardians’ usual M.O., he’d fill an obvious hole in the Guardians’ lineup. 

The Guardians could add some much-needed power to their lineup by signing Eugenio Suárez

Last season was arguably the best of Suárez’s career, as he tied his career-high with 49 home runs while also driving in a career-best 118 runs. 

Most of that damage was done during his first half tenure with the Diamondbacks, however, as he hit .248 with 36 home runs and 87 RBI during his time with Arizona before hitting just .189 with a strikeout rate of 35.9% in 53 games with the Mariners. 

Those struggles carried over to the postseason, as he hit .213 in 51 postseason at-bats with a strikeout rate of 35.3.% 

While he combined for 16 home runs during his time with the Mariners it also exposed the clear flaw in his game: when he’s not hitting home runs, he’s not a very valuable player. In fact, MLB Trade Rumors Tim Diekes determined that Suárez’s two 49-homer seasons (2019 and ‘25) are two of the least-impactful 49-homer seasons in MLB history.

Those red flags are the biggest reasons that he’s lingered on the free agent market. While he’s one of the best power hitters in all of baseball, he has a career strikeout rate of 27.5% and was worth -5 Outs Above Average in the field last night. 

He’d likely play at first base and designated hitter while with the Guardians thanks to Ramírez being entrenched at third base, but it would likely take a lot of convincing for the Guardians to  pay $20+ million for a guy who would play at designated hitter five days of the week while also taking time away from Kyle Manzardo. 

But it’s still hard to use those reasons as justification for the Guardians to not go after Suárez. Suárez has clubbed 325 home runs throughout his big league career and routinely ranks as one of the best power hitters on the planet. 

The longer he lingers on the market, the antsier he’s going to get. If the Guardians are able to wait it out and strike at the right time, they should try to strike him to a one-year, incentive-laden deal that would work for both sides. 

The Guardians would get the power hitter the fan base is dreaming of, and it wouldn’t come at the long-term expense of any of the team’s young prospects knocking on the door of the bigs.