The Angels have a clear opening at third base, and Eugenio Suárez suddenly looks like the kind of move that could make sense for a club trying to climb out of the AL West basement.
Suárez is now a free agent after the Reds declined his option for 2027, and his latest season gives teams plenty to weigh. He hit 26 home runs, but his production settled in at a 102 wRC+ with a 0.4 fWAR. That’s not the kind of line that screams impact bat, but it also fits the profile of a player who could be available in a buy-low spot.
For the Angels, that matters. After finishing with an American League-worst 62-100 record last season, the front office has a long list of problems to solve if it wants to get this team back into postseason contention for the first time since 2014. Third base belongs near the top of that list.
The options they rolled out there last season didn’t do enough. Yoán Moncada has flashed the talent that once made him such a highly regarded prospect in the Red Sox and White Sox systems, but he has never put it together consistently and hasn’t played 100-plus games since 2022.
Oswald Peraza and Vaughn Grissom have both been trying to recapture the promise they showed as rookies in 2022. Denzer Guzman got the most looks at the position, and while he took a step forward, there was still plenty left on the table.
Suárez wouldn’t come without warts of his own. He’s a bat-first player in his mid-30s, he strikes out a lot, and his batting average has topped .250 only once since 2019. Even so, 2026 was a down year in which he still managed to be an average hitter by most measures, while also clearing 20 homers and driving in more than 70 runs.
That kind of production would stand out in Anaheim. Only Zach Neto matched those same benchmarks among Angels hitters last season, which is why Suárez would do more than patch a hole at third.
He could give a thin lineup a real jolt. A prove-it deal along the lines of the one he signed with Cincinnati last offseason would make a lot of sense, and it feels like a realistic path for both sides.
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