The Cincinnati Reds unloaded a lot of their best players this past offseason and it has shown on the field. One of the trades involved sending infielder Eugenio Suárez and outfielder Jesse Winker to the Seattle Mariners.
In return, the Mariners sent pitcher Justin Dunn, outfielder Jake Fraley, and minor leaguers Brandon Williamson and Connor Phillips to Cincinnati.
So how has the deal panned out for the two teams after two months and about one-quarter of the way into the 2022 season?
What grade do the Seattle Mariners get for the Eugenio Suárez-Jesse Winker trade?
The Seattle Mariners have struggled to start the 2022 season as they are 17-23 to start the season but not as bad as the Cincinnati Reds, who are 11-27. However, Eugenio Suárez has been one of the few bright spots for the team.
He isn’t hitting for a high average (.217) but he is hitting for a decent on-base percentage (.313) and he’s hitting for a lot of power (.441 slugging percentage). He has nine doubles, seven homers, and 19 RBI on the season so far. His OPS+ was 124 entering Friday. His rWAR was also 0.7.
For Jesse Winker, he has a similar average (.222) to Suárez as well as a similar on-base percentage (.317) but he is hitting for a lot less power (.313 slugging percentage). He has seven doubles, two homers, and 15 RBI. His OPS+ was 92 entering Friday and his rWAR was -0.3 (primarily due to bad defense).
Overall, thus far, the Seattle Mariners get a C+ for what they received in the trade. Winker is, ideally, a DH since he’s never been a good defender and he has yet to hit for the power. Suárez has been good but he is still owed nearly $36 million for the rest of his contract (this year, two more years, and at least $2 million in 2025).
What grade do the Cincinnati Reds get for the Eugenio Suárez-Jesse Winker trade?
The Cincinnati Reds return for Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker has … not been good … to put it mildly.
Outfielder Jake Fraley is on the injured list after playing in only 15 games in the majors. In those 15 games, he hit .116/.208/.233 with an OPS+ of 21.
Dunn has been on the injured list since the season began with a shoulder injury. He is on the 60-day IL and even with the Mariners, his stats were not good because he was always injured (most recently, with another shoulder injury).
Brandon Williamson is the Reds #5 prospect and he has been at Double-A. The starter has not been great there, though, as (in seven starts), he has a 4.72 ERA. He is striking out a lot of batters (10.2 K/9) but that is down from 2021 (14.0 K/9). He is also walking a lot of batters (5.0 BB/9), which is up from 3.0 BB/9 in 2021.
Connor Phillips is the Reds #14 prospect and he is playing the best out of all of them. In High-A Dayton, the starting pitcher has a 3.30 ERA in six starts. He is only allowing 4.8 hits per nine innings but he is also allowing 4.8 walks per nine innings, which is a bit high. However, he is striking out 14.1 batters per nine innings.
Overall, the Reds get a D- for the trade so far.
Their grade wasn’t very high to begin with, but the MLB pieces for them have not panned out and Williamson is going through growing pains. Phillips is the only reason why they don’t get an F so far but his results are at High-A, so you can’t put too much stock in them.