What makes a trade worth it?

Acquiring more value than you surrendered. Finding a franchise cornerstone. Flipping draft picks. Regardless of the type of return gained, the simplest rule is that it must make you better.

The Seattle Mariners’ addition of Eugenio Suárez at the trade deadline was an obvious improvement. He became the first player with 35 or more home runs to be traded in a season, and he was dealt to the team that already had MLB’s home run leader. It was a match made in heaven.

Already a fan favorite, “Geno” was immediately reunited with former Diamondbacks teammate Josh Naylor. He was also reunited with former Seattle teammates who cheered, literally, upon his return. Shannon Drayer recapped the scene at the deadline: the Mariners surprised their own players by having the team flight wait on the tarmac so Suárez and his family team could join them on the way back to Seattle after a series loss to the Athletics in Sacramento.

“It’s so Geno Suárez,” Drayer said. “He proceeded to walk the entire length of the plane and hugged every person on it.”

From July: Suárez surprised M’s by catching team flight to Seattle

Seattle’s lineup had more power than it had in years, but Suárez cooled toward the end of the season. He hit just .190 in September, though with 13 home runs from August to the end of the regular season, he still finished with 49 homers on the year. Plus, the Mariners clinched a playoff spot and boasted the second-highest team OPS that month, so few were panicking about his bat.

But that slump lingered in October in a noticeable way. He was 2 for 22 in four postseason games at T-Mobile Park entering Friday’s ALCS Game 5. Suddenly the Suárez acquisition was an excrcise in semantics. Well, maybe he didn’t make you better in the postseason, but the Mariners acquiring the single-biggest player at the deadline sent a message to the rest of the league and, more importantly, the players in their own clubhouse.

It’s about culture change. And that’s worth something… right?

Truthfully, it is. But tangible production matters more, especially when your team needs it most.

Through most of Friday’s Game 5, the Mariners failed to muster enough offense to overcome a 2-1 Blue Jays lead. In a welcome sight for Seattle, starting pitcher Bryce Miller did was he was supposed to do. Then Bryan Woo, in his first appearance of the postseason, surrendered the go-ahead run when a sprinting Alejandro Kirk beat Dom Canzone’s throw from right field. It was a deficit, but by far the most manageable one offered by Toronto through three games in Seattle.

A home run from Cal Raleigh off Brendon Little that looked like it could scrape the roof tied the game in the eighth inning. And after Little walked Jorge Polanco and Josh Naylor, Blue Jays manager John Schneider called on Seranthony Domínguez to stop the bleeding. Instead, a hit by pitch on Randy Arozarena loaded the bases for Seattle – and Suárez.

Suárez had already knocked in a run for Seattle with a solo shot in the second. And on the sixth pitch from Domínguez, he launched another into right field, giving the Mariners a 3-2 series lead and life they desperately needed before a deciding road trip coming up in Toronto.

Suárez salami gives Mariners 3-2 lead in ALCS over Blue Jays

The Mariners still have to take a win on the road. But that’s tomorrow’s worry. For one more night in Seattle, thanks to Suárez, the vibes are pretty good.

A trade should make you better. But the Mariners didn’t just get better tonight.

They got further.

Seattle Mariners ALCS coverage

• Recap: M’s come back to beat Blue Jays 6-2, take 3-2 ALCS lead
• Mariners’ defense shines with web gems in pivotal ALCS Game 5 win
• Blue Jays drop slugger from roster for rest of series
• What They Said: Mariners not backing down against Blue Jays
• Drayer: Why Seattle Mariners are using Bryan Woo out of the bullpen