The Seattle Mariners have made two of the biggest deals of the 2025 trade deadline so far by acquiring Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Naylor would have made sense as a target for the Boston Red Sox, as they need a full-time first baseman to relieve the Abraham Toro-Romy Gonzalez platoon at the position.
After the late-night Suárez trade, Ken Rosenthal and Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reported that the Red Sox were also in the mix for him (subscription required). Boston's pursuit of Suárez had been quiet and few to no links between the two sides leaked before the deal.
The Red Sox intended to use Suárez as a first baseman if they landed him from Arizona. He would've been the third slugging third baseman on Boston's roster this year, including Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers.
If the Red Sox wanted a slugging infielder with questionable defensive metrics to play first base for them, they could've just stuck with Devers. Suárez has mashed 36 homers this year, the third most in the National League, which sets him apart from the slumping Devers. But if Boston wanted to go through the struggle of teaching another poor defensive third baseman to play the opposite corner, it could've kept Devers instead of potentially giving up top prospects for Suárez.
Red Sox would've been better off keeping Rafael Devers than trading for Eugenio Suárez and turning him into a first baseman
There are many true first basemen on this season's deadline market, from Naylor to Yandy Díaz to Ryan O'Hearn. The Red Sox's insistence on shuffling players around the field and moving them to positions they've never played consistently is inexplicable, especially considering their rough defensive performance all season.
It's hard to justify playing Suárez in his current position, let alone teaching him a new one in his age-34 season. He's posted -9 outs above average and ranks in the fifth percentile in range among all third basemen this season. The Red Sox seem to think a transition to first base is much easier than it truly is — just ask Ron Washington or Devers, who's already logged an error in his five games at first base with the Giants.
If Boston is serious about competing in the second half and making the postseason, it needs proven players in their natural positions. The Red Sox don't have time for a learning curve with the American League as tight as it is, and paying top dollar for one of the best trade deadline candidates just to move him to a weaker position is not a winning strategy.