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Former Cincinnati Reds star Eugenio Suarez is current Cincinnati Reds star Eugenio Suarez, or will be when the ink on his $15 million deal goes dry. The two sides reportedly reunited on Sunday evening, and we’ve spent the last day excitedly wondering just how things are going to shake out as a result.

Suarez, of course, is a 3B by trade, a move decided upon by the Reds back in the day after the former shortstop showed he was much more suited for a role at the hot corner. That’s the role in which he was playing when the Reds signed him to his most recently completed contract back in early 2018, too, meaning this Reds club is pretty much the only team that’s ever talked him into signing big-dollar contracts in his career.

So, there’s already a ton of understanding between the two, something that’s clear given that the Reds other most recent big-money move was to acquire fellow 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes from Pittsburgh last trade deadline and have him on the books through at least 2029 for $36 million. Hayes, who is perhaps the best defender at any position in the sport, is going to defend the hot corner more often than not, so for Suarez to agree to this deal with Cincinnati means there had to be some air-clearing about his role on the upcoming squad.

That will likely be as the DH most days, with the idea that maybe, just maybe, he’ll get time at 3B and 1B here and there (barring an injury that renders all of this moot). That’s a plan that sounds eerily similar to that of top prospect Sal Stewart, too, though Stewart – who has reportedly lost 20 lbs since the end of last season – may end up getting some run at 2B, too. That’s a lot of 1B overlap already, of course, though neither Suarez nor Stewart has ever truly played there much at all – and that’s all despite resident 1B regular Spencer Steer still very much being on the roster, too.

While that seems like a logjam, let’s put some of that into context by using the 2025 Reds and how they shook out under manager Terry Francona.

For one, Gavin Lux has already been dealt away, and he got 57 starts at DH, 23 between 2B/3B, and 49 in LF. He logged 503 PA across all of those spots that someone else is going to get to eat into. It’s also easy to forget that Santiago Espinal (328 PA), Miguel Andujar (110 PA after coming over at the deadline), Austin Hays (416 PA), and Jake Fraley (193 PA) all factored into the equation at corner infield and corner outfield positions.

Connor Joe got 70 PA! Rece Hinds got 44! Christian Encarnacion-Strand somehow got 137 PA last year despite that feeling, in hindsight, more like about 15. The team also somehow managed to get Blake Dunn, Garrett Hampson, Jacob Hurtubise, Tyler Callihan, and Ryan Vilade a combined 115 PA, and that’s all after we easily forget the 91 PA given to Jeimer Candelario before he was mercifully let go.

A full season of Hayes, who got 178 PA after coming over, will consume a good portion of that. A full season at the big league level from Stewart will, too. Still, it seems quite likely that we’ll see Steer effectively assume the role vacated by Lux offensively while also providing better defense than the former at just about every position they both play. That could well lead to new acquisition JJ Bleday sitting on the bench a lot more than we thought he might all of two days ago, but considering he’s a reclamation project (who still has a minor league option), that’s not exactly a bad thing – if anything, it means that a reclamation project brought in by the Reds will now actually have to show he’s worth being reclaimed before simply being handed the role, something that wasn’t at all the case with the likes of Hays, Wil Myers, and others in recent years.

The hope, obviously, is that the Geno that mashed with Arizona (and who mashed with the Reds the first time around) is who the Reds just signed for the 2026 season. And, if that’s the case, there’s a path to 600+ PA for him without truly impeding anyone who will be better than him offensively in the process. If, for whatever reason, he’s more of the guy who struggled in the awful hitting environment in Seattle, though, the Reds have baked-in a whole lot of extra, quality depth to make sure Suarez’s struggles wouldn’t be enough to singlehandedly sink the Reds ship.

Yeah, there’s a lot of overlap on-paper here. As Steer’s shoulder, TJ Friedl’s wrist and hamstring, Hays’ everything, CES’s wrist, Matt McLain’s oblique/shoulder, and Fraley’s hammies will attest to, having that kind of overlap when you plan to embark upon playing baseball at the highest level every single day for seven months is a very good thing to have. And now, the Reds have the best bubbles in the business squarely in the middle of it all.

This has been a pretty eventful offseason so far for the Pittsburgh Pirates but with many big name free agents still on the market the Pirates are positioned to be a team that can snag one more player before the season starts.

Now that we are in February the market for a lot of these free agents are starting to collapse. You could also see prices drop for some of these players and that is where the Bucs could make their move.  

General manager Ben Cherington has said he wants to do short-term commitments, mid-tier dollars, real upside acquisitions. He does not want to be splashy or reckless. Here are a couple of names that represent opportunities that don’t come along often for a franchise that rarely spends a lot of money.

The Pirates’ biggest roster hole remains painfully obvious: right-handed power, particularly at third base.

Eugenio Suárez, proven 30-homer bat, would have been a huge help. But he went to a division rival instead.

But another piece that would make the offense a whole lot scarier is 35 year old Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna was linked to Pittsburgh in December, but nothing came from that. He is a proven bat and an older veteran player so it shouldn’t be an expensive move especially if he is signed to a short term deal. He hit 21 homers last year and has 100 total dingers his last three seasons combined.

There are also still plenty of pitchers that the Pirates can target for pretty cheap. Relief pitchers like Daniel Coulombe, Scott Barlow and Justin Wilson could also bring much needed depth to the bullpen. While none of those pitchers would be absolute game changers, they would all still make a really good impact on the team. 

Lastly Jose Quintana who was with the Pirates for the 2022 season would be a good fit added to the starting pitching rotation. Quintana just finished last season with the Milwaukee Brewers where he had a 11-7 record and a 3.96 ERA. 

Pittsburgh needs innings and some more stability alongside starting pitchers like Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller and Jared Jones. They could sign him to a relatively expensive one year deal and have him be the fourth or fifth pitcher in the rotation and that would make the Pirates one of the deeper starting pitching rotations in the league.

These are all players the Pirates could still target as we get later and later into free agency. With a lot of their markets closing up too, the prices for them could be cheaper than it was in the beginning of free agency. 

The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired slick fielding third baseman Ben Williamson from the Seattle Mariners as part of a three-team deal with the St. Louis Cardinals that will generally be known as the Donovan trade:

• Mariners receive: INF Brendan Donovan
• Cardinals receive: RHP Jurrangelo Cijntje, CF Tai Peete, OF Colton Ledbetter and two 2026 competitive-balance Round B picks (No. 68 from Seattle, No. 72 from Tampa Bay)
• Rays receive: 3B Ben Williamson

Drafted 57th overall in 2023 after what Baseball America called a “monstrous senior season” at William & Mary, Williamson rocketed up to Double-A in his first season in the Mariners season, and stayed on the fast track by picking up 295 plate appearances for Seattle in 2025, putting up a 90 wRC+ against left handed pitching and a 70 wRC+ against right before getting demoted in August.

Like many young players acquired by the Rays lately, it’s a low-whiff/high-contact/low-power approach at the plate, but Williamson’s comes with a noisy, tentative leg kick that belies a power stroke.

If he can hit to all fields it probably works fine.

Williamson has played all but 20 games in his professional career at third base, but with Junior Caminero entrenched, it stands to reason the Rays view this right handed bat as more of a utility man. Will he make the cut? The 40-man is crowded with right handed hitting options, and there wasn’t a clear need for a back-up infielder heading into this deal.

Perhaps the Rays made this deal because they were looking for a more sure handed defensive back up — but he will need to be tested at short just as much as Ryan Vilade will this Spring.

If you’re inclined to think Joey Wendle is a successful model for a major league contributor, Williamson is a good bet, but major league comparisons to Matt Duffy while Williamson was a prospect make me shudder.

If you are inclined to Joey Wendle as the comp, “PTBNL or cash” would have been the return, but some evaluators are higher on Williamson for his glove and malleable approach at the plate. RJ Anderson at CBS Sports gave a 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes projection, writing, “There are worse fates.”

The cost for the Rays is the former No. 55 overall selection OF Colten Ledbetter — who was selected two picks in front of Ben Williamson in the 2023 draft — and the No. 72 overall selection in 2026. Ledbetter is a smash and grab outfielder, swinging a quick bat and capable of stealing bases. The Rays had him positioned to allow more time for center field reps, but the Cardinals may be content to try him in the corners and let the bat play. Ledbetter put up a 112 wRC+ in the jump to Double-A.

The day after Justin Hollander and Jerry Dipoto both said at Fan Fest that the Mariners were still looking to make one impact move, they reportedly backed that up today with the most significant trade of the Mariners off-season, a three-team trade with the Rays and Cardinals that will bring long-anticipated trade target Brendan Donovan to Seattle. While we’re still waiting for the full details of the trade, which was broken by Jeff Passan, reportedly the Mariners are sending third baseman Ben Williamson to the Rays as part of it. We will update this article as more information emerges. Update: so far the trade involves the Mariners sending switch-pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfield prospect Tai Peete to St. Louis, and sending third baseman Ben Williamson to Tampa Bay. Update to the update: the Mariners are also sending a 2026 Comp B pick to St. Louis, who also received a 2026 Comp B pick from Tampa Bay, as well as outfield prospect Colton Ledbetter.

Adding Donovan solidifies an infield mix that was shaky for the Mariners after the free agency departure of Jorge Polanco, with a trio of youngsters in Cole Young, Ben Williamson, and Colt Emerson in the mix but question marks hanging over each. Williamson was the most sure thing of that crew defensively, already playing at a Gold Glove level clip; he’s now headed to Tampa Bay as part of the deal.

Donovan doesn’t come close to replacing Polanco’s power output, but he does offer a reliable presence in the lineup as a high-average player who refuses to strike out. At 29, he’s probably shown about all he will in the power department, with his peak of 14 homers coming in 2024. As a lefty swinger, Donovan will join the Mariners’ other lefty regulars Josh Naylor, J.P. Crawford, and whichever of Dominic Canzone/Luke Raley is playing RF/DHing.

Defensively, Donovan offers positional flexibility, having played major-league innings at every position except catcher and center field. He even won a Gold Glove, in the first year the committee recognized Utility players as a position. However, the bulk of his experience has come at second base, a position that is currently theoretically filled by Cole Young, with Ryan Bliss behind him. That means either Donovan will shift to third, or Cole Young or Colt Emerson will slot over there instead. Likely the Mariners will use spring training to sort out their best defensive alignment for the bats available.

In order to acquire Donovan, who is under team control for two more years, the Mariners had to send out the MLB-experienced Williamson as well as two prospects, switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfield prospect Tai Peete. Cijntje, who made it to Double-A this season, cracked MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list this year and ranks as the sixth or seventh prospect in the Mariners’ top ten, depending on the outlet. The Mariners had announced Cijntje as an NRI invite this year as a right-handed pitcher, saying he would be making right-handed starts while continuing to work on pitching left-handed in his bullpens and side work. His development will now be under the purview of the Cardinals. Cijntje will be the first first-round pick of the Jerry Dipoto era to not debut with the Mariners.

The Mariners also sent out outfielder Tai Peete, who ranks outside the top-10 most places but within the top 15 for us at LL. Peete is an uber-athletic, toolsy prospect who was drafted as an upside play in 2023, when the Mariners had three first-round picks. He’s had a slow start to his pro career, struggling to make contact, but his physical gifts are immense, and there’s still lots of upside for the 20-year-old.

Finally, for prospect analyst Max Ellingsen, I have to put in that the Mariners are also apparently sending a comp B pick in the 2026 draft to St. Louis. This pushes the deal into “ouch” territory for us, which probably means it’s fair. For poor Max, it means that the draft board he’s already building got thrown out a window somewhere in Virginia. It’s a good, deep draft, and the Mariners already won’t get to pick very high in it, so it stings to not have the extra pick – but such is the cost of doing business.