CINCINNATI — For Eugenio Suárez, the decision to return to the Reds four years after he was traded away was easy.

“It was about where I want to be,” he said Tuesday.

The Reds officially reunited with the 34-year-old on Tuesday, signing him to a one-year, $15 million deal with a $16 million mutual option for 2027. Suárez, the No. 16-ranked player on The Athletic’s Free Agent Big Board, will mostly be used as the team’s designated hitter and will likely hit behind Elly De La Cruz.

A week before Cincinnati’s pitchers and catchers report to Goodyear, Ariz., the Reds finally landed the middle-of-the-order bat they needed for a team that finished 21st in Major League Baseball with 166 home runs last season and missed out on Kyle Schwarber earlier this offseason.

Suárez, a native of Venezuela who began his career with the Detroit Tigers before seven seasons with the Reds, called Cincinnati “home.”

“It’s perfect. That’s why I’m here, because it’s perfect,” Suárez said. “Everything right now is perfect, beautiful, happy, and (I’m) very excited to be back home.”

When the Reds traded for Suárez before the 2015 season, the then-23-year-old was described as a “glove-first shortstop.” Between 2015 and 2021, Suárez hit 189 homers, moved to third base, became an All-Star and earned MVP votes.

Cincinnati is also where Suárez’s wife, Génesis, gave birth to their first daughter, Nicolle. It’s where Suárez not only established himself as a big-leaguer, but also where he signed his first big contract, a seven-year extension that ran through last season.

In the seasons since he was traded in 2022, Suárez averaged 33 home runs for the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Last July, the Diamondbacks put Suárez on the trade market and all three of the teams he’d played for previously — the Tigers, Reds and Mariners — were among those interested in adding him to their lineup. While bringing in almost any player from outside requires a leap of faith about their fit in the clubhouse and in the organization, that wasn’t the case with Suárez.

The only Reds players who played with Suárez in his previous stint are catcher Tyler Stephenson, center fielder TJ Friedl and relievers Tony Santillan and Tejay Antone. Still, his reputation is such that closer Emilio Pagán tracked down his phone number not just to recruit him to return, but also to congratulate him after news broke that he was a Red again.

“The camaraderie thing is real,” Pagán said. “We’re a really, really close-knit, tight group, which helps you get through the tough times, because every team is going to have them. You add on to the fact that we’re already super close and we already get along, you add in a guy with the track record of Geno Suárez, it’s only going to enhance it.”

That track record includes 49 home runs in 2025, more than double the 22 hit by De La Cruz, the team’s leader in homers last season, and more than any Red has hit since Suárez’s 49 in 2019.

No Red has hit more than 25 homers in a season since 2021, Suárez’s last season with the Reds, when Joey Votto (36), Nick Castellanos (34) and Suárez (31) each hit at least 30 homers.

While Schwarber’s bat felt like a natural fit in the Reds’ lineup, he chose to stay in Philadelphia, agreeing to a five-year deal worth $150 million. Schwarber reportedly turned down other offers that would equal or exceed the deal offered by the Phillies, but he chose to stay in a place where he was comfortable. Suárez did the same.

Schwarber and Suárez were drawn to each team’s ability to compete as much as the comfort offered by familiar surroundings. The Reds and the Phillies reached the playoffs last season, as did Suárez with the Mariners.

“The chance to win, the chance to bring the playoffs to the city, and the chance we have with me to make the playoffs and win it all is high. That made the decision easy,” Suárez said.

His $15 million price tag was below what many expected him to garner on the open market. Still, the deal required president of baseball operations Nick Krall to stretch the budget for the offseason to fit Suárez, who is as popular with fans as he is with teammates.

“We went to ownership last week. I talked to Bob and Phil (Castellini), and we said this is probably where it’s going to go and what we’re going to need (financially) that would be above and beyond our (original) budget,” Krall said. “They approved it, and we’re excited to be able to do that.”

Even in Goodyear, Ariz., Suárez’s addition was welcomed by staff members who were with the team during his previous run.

“I was walking around the complex when it broke (Monday), and the one thing is that every single person who brings it up has a smile on their face,” Reds general manager Brad Meador said by phone.

The smiles were mainly a result of the person Suárez is, but they also could be for the player. He has the type of power that the team has lacked since the 2021 season. In addition to DH, he will get time at first and third base.

After missing on Suárez last July, the Reds pivoted and traded for third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, allowing Noelvi Marte to move to the outfield full-time and also improve the team’s infield defense.

“It worked out well for this year, we have them both,” Meador said. “We now have a Gold Glove third baseman and a guy who hit 49 home runs.”

That Suárez hit 49 home runs last season normally wouldn’t be reserved for the second half of interviews, but because he’s a familiar face and beloved presence, it was.

For a team that struggled to hit the ball out of the ballpark, adding Suárez’s power is an upgrade to the lineup.

“That alone is what you’re excited about,” said Reds bench coach Freddie Benavides, who was the team’s infield coach when Suárez came to Cincinnati. “Everything else that he brings is icing on the cake. He strengthens our lineup — not just with the 49 home runs, but he’s done it year in and year out. He’s a home run threat. Any time he can hurt you, and it’s something we lacked a little bit last year in the power game.”

Pagán, the Reds’ closer, briefly put himself in an opposing pitcher’s shoes, thinking about facing Suárez at the plate with De La Cruz on first base.

“That’s nightmare fuel for sure.”