PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks have traded star third baseman and fan favorite Eugenio Suarez to the Seattle Mariners ahead of Thursday’s MLB trade deadline, according to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro.
In return, Arizona will receive first base prospect Tyler Locklear and two pitching prospects.
Locklear is a 24-year-old corner infielder and the No. 9 prospect in the Mariners’ system at the time of the trade, per MLB Pipeline.
A 2022 second-round pick out of VCU, Locklear made his MLB debut last season and has 16 games of MLB experience.
He’s hit .316 with a .942 OPS this year in Triple-A Tacoma, hitting 19 home runs with 18 steals.
The D-backs will also receive right-handed relievers Hunter Cranton and Juan Burgos, the Nos. 16 and 17 prospects in the Mariners’ system as ranked by MLB Pipeline, respectively.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported Suarez was traded.
Suarez is the first player to be traded in a season with at least 35 home runs hit, as he made the National League All-Star team for the first time since 2018.
“Obviously this team has a part of my heart right right here and like I say, I feel like I’m home,” Suarez said at the end of Arizona’s last homestand. “This team, it means a lot to me and all the last two years being with my career changed everything here in Arizona.”
Arizona previously dealt first baseman Josh Naylor to the Mariners last Thursday for pitching prospects Ashton Izzi and Brandyn Garcia. It also sent outfielder Randal Grichuk to Kansas City for another pitching prospect, Andrew Hoffman.
The Mariners, Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs were among clubs with reported interest in Suarez, who entered the deadline as the top power hitter potentially on the market.
Since the 2024 All-Star break, Suarez has hit 56 home runs, which ranks third in MLB in that timeframe behind MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.
This season, he is fifth in MLB with 36 home runs and leading the NL with 87 RBIs.
Suarez is on the final year of his eight-year contract he previously signed with the Reds and will enter free agency going into his age 34 season.
His status was threatened on Monday after getting hit by a pitch on the hand, but he returned to the lineup on Wednesday after imaging came back clean.
Eugenio Suarez had memorable Diamondbacks tenure
The veteran experienced a somewhat brief but wholly remarkable tenure with the Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks acquired Suarez in a trade with the Mariners after the 2023 World Series run, pegging the veteran third baseman as Evan Longoria’s replacement. Arizona sent reliever Carlos Vargas and catcher Seby Zavala to Seattle in the deal.
He struggled through a nightmarish first half of the 2024 season that brought him to the brink of being designated for assignment. Suarez hit .216 with an OPS of .668 and 10 home runs in the first half after joining the club, and he was challenged to change some of his pregame habits. After working in more high-intensity pregame work to get his body ready and making a few adjustments at the plate, Suarez went on a tear.
He hit .307 with a .942 OPS and 20 home runs in his final 65 games, reaching 30 home runs and 100 RBIs for the first time since 2019. During the season, Suarez received credit for his consistency as a clubhouse presence and teammate throughout his ups and downs.
Suarez stayed hot during a dominant stretch in the Venezuelan Winter League over the offseason, and he picked up where he left off to open the 2025 MLB campaign.
He hit four home runs in his first three games, winning National League Player of the Week for the first of four times this season. He blasted a grand slam at Yankee Stadium to power the D-backs to their first road victory on April 1.
A crowning achievement of his career came on April 26, when he hit four home runs in a game against the Atlanta Braves, becoming the 19th player to ever blast a quartet of long balls in the same game. The Diamondbacks dropped that game 8-7, which tells much of the story of their season and why they ended up trading Suarez.
Suarez really turned up the dial in June, when he hit 11 home runs, which tied for the MLB lead. He hit double-digit homers in April, June and July, reaching the 300 mark for his career in the process.
He blasted most of his home runs at Chase Field, which added to his fan favorite status, as it became a sight to behold when he pulled a ball in the air and the only question was how far back into the seats it would go.
Having to trade someone of that caliber and whose reputation in that clubhouse is undeniable is a tough pill to swallow for Arizona, especially since Suarez has stated on the record several times that his preference was to stay and help Arizona get over the hump.
The Diamondbacks’ season has been a disappointment on many levels. Injuries of course tell part of the story, as season-ending surgeries for ace Corbin Burnes and co-closers A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez pressed the pitching staff. Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno all spent time on the injured list, with Moreno still shut down with a fractured finger.
The club has also struggled to maintain a high level of play, particularly with pitching and defense, teasing contender-caliber performances without the consistency it takes to stay in the race.
By falling too far behind the National League Wild Card chase and given the contract status of Suarez and several others, dealing from that group became a means to setting up the team for 2026 and beyond.
Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly are also on the trade block.
After hitting four home runs in a game, making the All-Star team and winning NL Player of the week a club-record four times this season, Suarez stamped a place in Diamondbacks lore, and his ability to smile through the struggle, listen to advice and adapt will impact players in that clubhouse as they move forward in their careers.
