Reds' slugger faces mounting scrutiny and future trade block rumors

Needing to bring in a little more power for the 2026 season, the Cincinnati Reds hit the free agent market over the offseason. They decided to sign Eugenio Suarez to a one-year, $15 million contract. 

That seemed like a pretty good deal for someone who blasted 49 home runs and drove in 118 runs the year prior. However, he has struggled to mash baseball as he did in 2025. 

And that's not helping a Reds club that sits in last place in the National League Central with their 35-38 record, 11 games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. 

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Reds' slugger faces mounting scrutiny and future trade block rumors

Across 47 games, Suarez is hitting .212/.274/.376 with seven home runs and 25 runs batted in. Those stats would have looked a lot worse if not for his monster of a performance on Monday against the New York Mets, where he hit two home runs and drove in six. 

Still, with that performance, he's someone that Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller has not been impressed with. 

"Over the previous eight seasons, Suarez ranked sixth in the majors with 261 home runs, culminating in last year's 49-dinger spectacular. So Cincinnati brought him back after four years away, hoping he would beef up a lineup in which no one had more than 22 home runs in 2025. Instead, he has his worst OPS in more than a decade, even including Monday's pair of homers in a 12-0 rout of the Mets. He might be on the trade block for a second consecutive summer, but in a much less coveted role this time around."

Miller questions the slugger's future with Cincinnati. The Reds have the depth that they don't need Suarez out there if he isn't producing how the front office thought he would. 

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