Reds gift Terry Francona with power threat Guardians seemingly showed no interest in

For seven seasons, Eugenio Suárez loomed large as a power threat in the middle of the Cincinnati Reds’ lineup. 

Now he’s headed back to the Queen City for what should be another strong power-hitting season, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Sunday that the Reds signed Suárez to a one-year, $15 million deal for the 2026 season. 

While Suárez is by no means a perfect player, he was the top-power hitter available in free agency and is coming off an All-Star season split across time with the Diamondbacks and Mariners. 

The Reds entered the offseason in the same boat as the Guardians in that they were in desperate need of some power in their lineup, which is why Suárez’s signing with the Reds should be a bit frustrating for Guardians fans. 

Prime Guardians free agent target Eugenio Suárez signs with Reds 

Last season Suárez mashed 49 home runs across his stints with Arizona and Seattle, though it came with a .228/.298/.526 slashline and a strikeout rate of 29.8%. 

He didn’t always make contact, but when he did the ball usually went very, very far. Not only would his 49 home runs be the most on the Mariners, but it’s six more than the 43 that Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer combined for last season as the Reds’ top two home run hitters. 

Suárez’s seven seasons with the Reds are still the most that he’s spent with one franchise in his career, and he hit .253 with 189 home runs over that time span. Forty-nine of those home runs came during the 2019 season. 

All of that makes it easy to see why he would have been a good fit for a Guardians lineup that only hit 167 home runs last season. While they should have more power in 2026 thanks to Chase DeLauter and George Valera hopefully being everyday players, a lot of the power output is still on Kyle Manzardo and José Ramírez.

And while Ramírez made Suárez an imperfect fit on the Guardians thanks to the fact that his primary position is third base, Passan reported that most of Suárez’s at-bats with the Reds will come from designated hitter, which is an avenue the Guardians could have gone down. 

The Guardians inaction around Suárez gets even more frustrating when you consider the Pirates reportedly offered Suárez the same $15 million contract as the Reds along with a second guaranteed year. 

Although Suárez ended up signing with the Reds, it seems like the Pirates were willing to spend more on him than the Guardians were. Even if the Pirates’ needs are a bit more acute than Cleveland’s, that’s a sentence that no MLB fan wants to read. 

There’s no denying the Guardians’ offense is in a better spot than last season. But there’s also no denying that Suárez could have clearly helped the Guardians win in 2026.