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Try it freeATLANTA — Eugenio Suárez said he is “happy” in Arizona and is doing his best to help a club that entered the All-Star break floundering but fighting: three games under .500, 11 games removed from the NL West lead and 5.5 games out of a wild-card spot.
But an All-Star in whom the Yankees have interest is not shooing away the trade-deadline rumors that he acknowledged are flattering and could culminate with Suárez playing in The Bronx for a franchise he respects.
“Yankees is Yankees — I feel like it’s a team that wants to win,” Suárez said at Monday’s media availability. “They had the [World Series] chance from last year, but they are hungry still.
“If I go over there, like I said, I would do my best over there. Try to help them win the World Series.”
There might not be a better fit on the market to help the Yankees’ World Series odds.
Suárez checks off every box for a team that needs a sure-handed, righty-swinging third baseman who can help now and wouldn’t clog a position that the club could envision top prospect George Lombard Jr. claiming in the next few years.
The 33-year-old, now two-time All-Star is enjoying another strong offensive season, clubbing 31 first-half homers, posting an .889 OPS and leading the NL with 78 RBIs.
He swings hard and often — his 105 strikeouts are tied for the 19th-most in the game — but that has not scared off the Yankees in the past.
“I never try to hit homers,” Suárez said with a smile, “but [the power] is in there.”
His power does not discriminate: He has crushed both righties and lefties this season, which would particularly fit on a Yankees club that is largely lefty outside Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
He has played third base the most often through his 12-year career and is fine if not fantastic, ranking 33rd among 39 qualifiers at the position this season in Outs Above Average.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. would not need to be moved back to a third base that might strain his arm more and minimizes his legs.
And on a Yankees team that has plenty of long-term deals and probably does not want to import more 30-somethings who are locked up for years, Suárez would make sense as a true rental.
He is making $15 million this season before he hits free agency.
The Venezuela native makes perfect sense for the Yankees — and perhaps for the Diamondbacks and a team such as the Cubs or Tigers, too.
There are worlds in which the Diamondbacks — who as recently as 2023 snuck into the postseason as a wild card and raced to the NL pennant — go on a run and decide against selling at the July 31 deadline. Arizona has suffered several significant injuries throughout the first half, but still is talented.
And if the Diamondbacks do sell, the Yankees would have to fight with several clubs to win the bidding.
No team has seen worse production (.531 OPS) at the hot corner than the Cubs, who have given rookie Matt Shaw a chance to run with the spot, and he has not.
A win-now team, with only one guaranteed season of Kyle Tucker, will want to win now.
Detroit, too, likely would be interested in Suárez, who would represent a major upgrade for the team with the best record in MLB and should be pushing its chips in.
Suárez has noticed the attention from top teams.
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“When you see your name around, and you hear the different teams want you, it’s something that you have to feel proud,” he said. “Let’s see what happens in the next couple weeks.”
Adding to the Yankees’ urgency are the alternatives.
The Rockies’ Ryan McMahon owns a .683 OPS and is a perhaps declining 30-year-old due $32 million in 2026-27.
Nolan Arenado’s bat has not bounced back.
Maybe Ke’Bryan Hayes can be pried from the Pirates, but the excellent third baseman has a .576 OPS.
Other options include Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Luis Rengifo.
Suárez plans to be slugging and not sweating the deadline.
“It’s something that is out of my control,” he said. “I’m happy where I am right now, like I always say, but, at the same time, I understand the game, I understand the business.”