The Cincinnati Reds are in a disappointing state of where their organizations aiming for. It's been 5 years since the Reds have made the playoffs. Now being on the bottom chain of the league losing 94 games last season and starting the rebuild. The Reds are now looking for key players in their organizations to stay loyal to the process and preparing for the future like rising star Eugenio Suarez. The Reds and Suarez agreed to a 7-year $66 million deal with a club option for 2025. The 27 year old 3B had an impressive 2017 campaign playing in 156 games batting .260 with career highs in home runs (26), rbi's (82), OBP (.367) and OPS (.828). The Reds saw Suarez's potential when they made the trade to get him in 2014 from the Tigers in exchange for SP Alfredo Simon which is now looking to be a lob sided trade. The Tigers only made the trade due to the desperate need of a cheap quality starter and the assumption of Nick Castellanos staying at 3B and for Jose Iglesias's bat to come around. Neither of those assumptions panned out and now Suarez is on the up and up with his ceiling still in tact to reach. Suarez has above average power that can be pull side friendly with a simple swing that gets him to the ball quick enough to turn on it. Suarez is also a reliable player that you can pencil in everyday staying at the league average to above league average performance. His fielding is improving with the transition from SS to 3B only committing 9 errors in 153 games with a steady glove and above average arm. The only problem Suarez might encounter is his athleticism and his hitting. In the last couple seasons Suarez has been gaining some lb's whether it's muscle or not it's still more weight which can damaged his verticality making him stay at 3B and loss of speed on the basepads. With his hitting being pull-side friendly isn't the worst habit especially with how the game is trending to that style but once the league adjusts he could struggle to get on base more and then would only be focusing on the long ball which never helps a batters mindset thinking that they only need to focus on the long ball. Another problem Suarez might have is with the Reds top prospect 3B Nick Senzel who's expecting to break in with the team as soon as this season having a surplus of high name corner infielders. This could create a conflict with Suarez and the Reds unless they put Senzel at a different position or for either one to reach their expectations. These worries are only "what if's" and Suarez has more positives to his game then negative. With Cincinnati now locking up Suarez and also keeping 2017 Gold Glove Catcher Tucker Barnheart and face of the franchise 1B Joey Votto for the long haul. We can see Suarez perform at a high level now waiting to become the savy veteran to the Reds new youth movement. We can see Suarez take another step to his game playing around 145-160 games batting .255-275 with 22-32 home runs and 80-98 rbi's. It's a tough and confusing time to be a Reds fan, but with this acquisition there's now clarity and relief knowing that a solid player in Suarez will be loyal to the team and exciting for what the future will hold. The Big Red Machine will be back sooner than later and Suarez will be ready for it.
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