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Rumored Red Sox target signs one-year deal with Reds — and Boston didn’t make an offer
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- Rumored Red Sox target signs one-year deal with Reds — and Boston didn’t make an offer
The Eugenio Suárez dream has come to an end for the Red Sox — and it turns out they weren’t meaningfully involved in his market after all.
The power hitter agreed to a one-year, $15 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported . The deal also includes a mutual option for the 2027 season. According to a source with knowledge of Suárez’s market, the 34-year-old chose the Reds over the Pirates — and Boston did not make a formal offer before Suárez made his final decision.
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It will be the 34-year-old’s second stint with the Reds after spending seven seasons with the club from 2016-2021. Suárez finished 2025 with 49 home runs and 118 RBI, spending four months with the Diamondbacks before being traded to the Mariners at the trade deadline. Suárez’s one-year deal fell well short of projections ahead of free agency, suggesting that his unique profile made for a slow free agent market. MLBTradeRumors had him projected to sign a three-year, $63 million deal at the outset of the winter while ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel predicted a two-year, $45 million deal. Suárez instead got a one-year deal to return to Cincinnati, where he’ll be the designated hitter for Terry Francona’s team.
The Red Sox, who have holes at both second base and third base with Alex Bregman having signed with the Cubs, were thought to potentially have interest in Suárez, who could have slotted in at third base with Marcelo Mayer and Romy Gonzalez manning second. It was believed the Red Sox, who viewed Suárez as a fallback plan throughout most of the offseason, would be interested at him if his market were to collapse. Even though Suárez only got a one-year deal, it appears the Sox’ concerns over his profile were too strong to make a run at him. The Red Sox are known to be prioritizing defense and Suárez, who logged more than 1,340 innings at third last year, has regressed defensively. Boston was also likely scared off by Suárez’s high strikeout rate, which reached 29.8% in 2025 (he struck out 196 times) and ballooned to 35.9% after the trade to Seattle .
While Suarez hit at least 25 home runs in seven of his MLB seasons, he has also led the league in strikeouts three times. The Red Sox are known to be prioritizing defense and contact as they look to fill out their infield with trade targets Isaac Paredes (Astros), Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw (Cubs) and others potentially in play.
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