Eugenio Suarez didn't quite deliver on the hype from his trade deadline deal to the Seattle Mariners.
He was overshadowed by Josh Naylor, the other guy the Mariners got from the Diamondbacks.
Both entered this offseason as free agents, and Naylor re-signed with Seattle quickly.
Many viewed Suarez as more likely to leave the Pacific Northwest, but there hasn't been much movement in the negotiation process, at least as far as publicly reported information.
That leaves Suarez lingering out there in a market that also has a lot of bigger names still to be signed.
CBS Sports writer R.J. Anderson actually thinks this is good for the Mariners. He predicts they'll end up with Suarez back on a reasonable contract, almost by default.
"Suárez homered 49 times last season, but you wouldn't know it based on how quiet his market has been to date," Anderson writes. "Blame it on his advanced age (he'll turn 35 in July), extreme swing-and-miss tendencies, and lacking third-base defense. The path of least resistance points to a reunion with the Mariners. Perhaps the Red Sox (if they miss out on Bregman) or the Cubs (if they whiff on a higher-priced pitching pursuit) could factor into the equation too."
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It's worth noting that only 13 of Suarez's home runs came after the trade to Seattle, and that his advanced metrics took a major nosedive with the Mariners.
But he's still a slugger who plays a position of need for the Mariners. There would be weirder outcomes than Suarez returning to Seattle, even if it's not the thing many were expecting when the offseason got underway.
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