Eugenio Suarez is that guy.

He’s this year’s hitter who remains a free agent longer than you would think. Making it even weirder is that the Seattle Mariners could probably use a third baseman, the position Suarez just finished playing for Seattle at the end of the 2025 season after his trade deadline acquisition from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

All offseason, the list of teams attached to Suarez’s name has been varied. At least based on all the various reporting and analysis, there should be clubs who want Suarez.

MORE: How Jose Ramirez is on pace to become Cleveland’s Derek Jeter

He’s a guy who hit 49 home runs in 2025. That included 36 with the Diamondbacks, along with a historic four-homer game. He then hit 13 more after the Mariners got him for the stretch run, and showed off his power in the postseason, too.

There’s a reason MLB.com’s Brian Murphy, in a new article on Sunday, called Suarez “the top slugger still available.” He clearly is.

Murphy listed the other best available free agent infielders, and none will likely get a contract near what Suarez could still get, even if it’s lower than initially expected. Murphy’s list also includes Ty France, Paul Goldschmidt, Kiké Hernández, Rhys Hoskins, Nathaniel Lowe and Carlos Santana. That’s a lot of first basemen, really, along with Hernandez.

MORE: Paul Skenes has added a new pitch

The simple thing to assume is that Suarez is asking for more than teams want to pay. Otherwise, a deal would likely be done.

He’s also an experienced veteran who likely would rather find the best fit as opposed to signing with a bad team that is quick with a contract offer.

Suarez will end up somewhere, and probably hit a bunch of home runs. At that point, other teams may wind up asking themselves why they weren’t the ones to get him on a contract this offseason.

More MLB news: