Detroit Tigers: What if Eugenio Suarez hadn’t been traded?
By Brad Faber
Years after being traded away from the Detroit Tigers, Eugenio Suarez has become an RBI machine for the Cincinnati Reds.
In June 2014, Eugenio Suarez made his major league debut for the Detroit Tigers. At the time he was called up, the Detroit Tigers had been struggling to stabilize the shortstop position after losing Jose Iglesias in Spring Training. Suarez, who had been swinging a hot bat in the minor leagues, presented yet another possible solution.
Suarez put together a respectable performance in 2014, hitting .242/.316/.336 with four home runs and 23 RBI. The following December, the Tigers traded Suarez and pitching prospect Jonathon Crawford to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for starting pitcher Alfredo Simon. The trade occurred the same day the Tigers sent Rick Porcello to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Wilson, and Gabe Speier.
It appeared that the Tigers had intended for Simon to be the de facto replacement for Porcello. Simon got off to a good start for the Tigers, posting a 2.58 ERA over his first 12 starts. However, he began struggling in June, and his overall body of work was quite unremarkable. He ended up finishing the 2015 campaign with a 13-12 record, a 5.05 ERA, a 1.44 WHIP and a 1.1 fWAR.
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Simon becomes a free agent the following offseason and rejoined the Reds. He posted a 9.36 ERA over 15 games (11 starts) and has not pitched in the majors since.
Suarez putting up big numbers
For quite a while now, it has been quite evident that the Reds have turned out to be the clear winner of this trade. Of course, one of the players in the trade, Crawford, a former first-round draft pick, has not panned out.
But Suarez, on the other hand, is now the Reds’ starting third baseman and has turned out to be a very nice player.
Suarez provided a solid bat in his first season with the Reds. Through 97 games, he slashed .280/.315/.446 with 13 homers and 48 RBI. After clubbing 20-plus home runs in each of the following two seasons, Suarez and the Reds agreed to an extension this spring.
So far in 2018, it appears that Suarez is well on his way to having his best season to date. He is currently slashing .294/.371/.594 with 10 home runs, and his 42 RBI are tied for the National League lead (entering play Wednesday).
Did the Detroit Tigers make a mistake?
Of course, at the time the Detroit Tigers traded Suarez, he was stuck behind a logjam in the Tigers’ infield. Jose Iglesias was returning to reclaim shortstop. Ian Kinsler was still cemented at second base, where he would remain for another three seasons. The Tigers also had Nicholas Castellanos at third base, where he would stay until moving to right field in September of 2017.
In addition to Suarez, the Tigers lost two other solid middle infielders during the same era. Devon Travis was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays before the Suarez trade. The Tigers lost Hernan Perez on waivers to the Milwaukee Brewers in the summer of 2015.
The Tigers simply didn’t have a spot for Suarez, unless they would have tried moving him to the outfield. Maybe the Tigers could have kept him around and started grooming him to be their left fielder after trading Yoenis Cespedes to the New York Mets in 2015, or perhaps moved Castellanos to the outfield sooner than he ultimately was. However, it is still tough to imagine a scenario in which there would have been a clear spot for Suarez.
To put it simply, Suarez just came up at the wrong time. The Tigers’ surplus of infielders made him expendable.
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Unfortunately for the Detroit Tigers, they just weren’t able to get much of a return for him. But that being said, there was no way to know that Suarez would end up being the player that he is today. He is simply one who got away.