{"id":50074,"date":"2025-07-31T13:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T13:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/50074\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T13:02:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T13:02:07","slug":"mlb-trade-grades-the-all-in-mariners-land-the-big-bat-they-coveted-in-eugenio-suarez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/50074\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB trade grades: The all-in Mariners land the big bat they coveted in Eugenio Su\u00e1rez"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mariners get:\u00a03B Eugenio Su\u00e1rez<\/p>\n

Diamondbacks get: 1B Tyler Locklear, RHP Hunter Cranton, RHP Juan Burgos<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mariners: A
Diamondbacks: C<\/p>\n

Grant Brisbee: A sneaky storyline of the 2025 season is that the Mariners are one of the better offensive teams in the American League. There\u2019s nothing sneaky about what Cal Raleigh is doing, but several other regulars are having fine offensive seasons, and it\u2019s all been enough to give them the second-best adjusted OPS (OPS+) in the AL.<\/p>\n

Still, they had obvious holes at the infield corners, and even after they acquired first baseman Josh Naylor in a separate deal with the Diamondbacks, a trade for Eugenio Su\u00e1rez was such a perfect match that it felt preordained. He\u2019ll give the Mariners a middle of the order with two potential 50-homer players. That\u2019ll help them reach the postseason, and having a 100-dinger tandem isn\u2019t a bad strategy to have when they get there.<\/p>\n

As for the Diamondbacks, they\u2019re getting Tyler Locklear, who Keith Law described as a likely backup 1B\/DH without \u201cany ceiling beyond that\u201d in his top-20 Mariners ranking<\/a>, which isn\u2019t the most exciting description for the main prospect in return for an elite slugger, although he\u2019s had a fine season in Triple-A since. They also received right-hander Hunter Cranton, a reliever with \u201cserious hop\u201d on his fastball, and Juan Burgos, a right-hander who appeared in four games out of the Mariners bullpen this season.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re the Mariners, it\u2019s an easy trade to make. If you\u2019re the Diamondbacks, it\u2019ll be hard to get too excited about this move until Locklear starts providing even half the power production that Su\u00e1rez was giving them.<\/p>\n

Mariners: A
Diamondbacks: B<\/p>\n

Cody Stavenhagen: Trader Jerry is at it again. In a time where front offices can overanalyze and paralyze themselves, Jerry Dipoto went and got the best hitter on the market. For all his defensive shortcomings and the whiff in his bat, Su\u00e1rez is a legitimate power threat and a beloved clubhouse presence everywhere he has been. Less than two years ago, Dipoto traded Su\u00e1rez for Seby Zavala and Carlos Vargas. Now he gets him back without sacrificing the top of his farm, at a time where the Mariners are finally gearing up to make a real push in a wide-open American League.<\/p>\n

Locklear is well-liked but ultimately a right-handed first baseman dependent on power. Arizona could be a good fit to get him at-bats. Burgos and Cranton should develop into big-league relievers, but it\u2019s hard to say what kind of ceiling either have.<\/p>\n

The Diamondbacks ultimately get some useful pieces, but it doesn\u2019t seem they struck gold in exchange for their rental hitter.For the Mariners, giving up three players always comes with some risk. Good on them for taking it. This is a serious move for a franchise that has been begging for one. The Mariners just asserted themselves as a real contender in the American League.<\/p>\n

Mariners: A
Diamondbacks: A-<\/p>\n

Sam Blum: I picked the Mariners to win the World Series<\/a> before this season started, because their pitching was so good. There\u2019s no better rotation in baseball, and even with a pedestrian offense, I thought it would be enough. Their decision to have a largely dormant offseason irked their fanbase because it appeared they were willing to let an all-time competitive window pass them by. But Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has always done his work on the trade market, and he just picked up the best offensive trade chip available to him. It signals to everyone that they intend to do everything they can to win a championship. In a season of parity and mediocre first-place teams, the Mariners are trying to set themselves apart. Now, you could criticize them for letting Su\u00e1rez go in the first place a couple years ago, but such is the reality of how these things go.<\/p>\n

Because of that, the prospect cost is of secondary importance. First base prospect Tyler Locklear, who had just been called up, heads to the Diamondbacks. He\u2019s Seattle\u2019s No. 12 prospect, according to\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0Keith Law. A tough player to lose, no doubt, and a good return for Arizona. Especially when you consider they traded Josh Naylor, their Opening Day first baseman, to Seattle last week. The DBacks get a legitimate building block,\u00a0and two of Seattle\u2019s best\u00a0pitching prospects, and the Mariners get back one of the best power hitters in baseball. This is a good deal for both sides.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Photo: Norm Hall \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mariners get:\u00a03B Eugenio Su\u00e1rez Diamondbacks get: 1B Tyler Locklear, RHP Hunter Cranton, RHP Juan Burgos \u00a0 Mariners: ADiamondbacks:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2317,363,481,99],"class_list":["post-50074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-mlb","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}