The Pirates have already added new pitchers to their roster, but the team isn’t done searching for more offense. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Pirates are interested in him Eugenio Suarezalthough Mackey is skeptical that the club will be able to win a bid for the veteran slugger.
The fit is obvious, as Pittsburgh finished 30 out of 30 teams in home runs (117), slugging percentage (.350), and singles power (.119). Suarez finished fifth in the majors in both homers (49) and singles (.248), and his .526 SLG ranked 10th among all professional hitters. In terms of pure offensive production, Suarez trailed with a .228 batting average and .298 on-base percentage, and continued to post the highest strikeout rate of any batter in the game.
Suarez’s 2025 production dropped significantly after the trade deadline that sent him from the Diamondbacks to the Mariners. Although he has put up big numbers in the past in Seattle and Suarez’s hitting has gotten him used to playing in a strange way, seeing Suarez go down so much after moving to the right ballpark must worry the Pirates about how Suarez will handle him at PNC Park. Suarez is also 34 years old, so the declining phase is a risk in signing a player of his age to a multi-year contract.
MLB Trade Rumors ranked Suarez 20th on our list of the top 50 free agents, and projected him to sign a three-year, $63MM free agent deal. While Suarez’s age, one-sided offense, and increasingly fragile defensive base have factored into the speculation, the truth is that Suarez’s pure power is hard to come by. Suarez’s reputation as a clubhouse leader is another plus for a young Pirates squad that could use some experience on and off the pitch.
As is often said when it comes to Pirates or anything else in the market, Francisco LirianoThe three-year, $39MM contract from December 2014 remains the largest contract the Bucs have ever given to free agency. Ryan O’HearnA two-year, $29MM deal a few weeks ago reached that dubious record, and the Pirates asked nine people to move on. Kyle Schwarber from earlier this winter indicates that Pittsburgh is willing to stretch its limited budget to try to solve its offensive problems.
Between the O’Hearn signing and the trade it brought Brandon Lowe, Jhostynxon Garcíaagain Jake Mangum In the dark, the Bucs have already done little to strengthen their worst offense in the league. Bringing Suarez into the third tier would be the biggest move yet, and the fact that Suarez’s market seems limited so far could be in favor of Pirates.
The Mariners, Red Sox, and Cubs are the only teams known to be interested in Suarez, though any number of other clubs could be on the horizon. Seattle has enough other candidates for the third round that their interest in the hot corner seems to be limited to Suarez in particular, while the Sox and Cubs are two Alex Bregmanthey don’t ask. Kazuma Okamoto he was known as one of Pittsburgh’s top targets, but the third baseman instead signed with the Blue Jays, leaving the Pirates to potentially make a run at Suarez.
