Mariners passing on Eugenio Suárez reunion is aging exactly as poorly as you think

With the Mariners' tragic number now down to 4, fans are facing up to the horrifying prospect of the season officially being over as soon as Saturday evening. As unlucky as the team has been at times this season, it almost feels as if any time a decision had to be made, the M's would usually pick the wrong one. Which brings us nicely -- or perhaps not so nicely -- to Eugenio Suárez.

Back near the end of last month, the Reds placed Suárez on waivers and we, along with seemingly everyone else, believed the Mariners should claim him. However, the M's decided against bringing him back to Seattle for a third time. Even at the time we genuinely believed they were making a mistake, but irrespective, since then the decision has aged as badly as fans are used to seeing when it comes to their team.

Consider that since the Mariners passed on a reunion with Suárez, he has produced five home runs and 11 RBI in 15 games, on the way to a .946 OPS. Some may note he had a .705 OPS at the point when the M's could have claimed him of waivers, which at that point was projected to be the worst of his Major League career since his rookie season in 2014. However, even then there were signs of him warming up, with five home runs and a .862 OPS in August.

We appreciate the Mariners would have had to pay Suárez around $3 million for the remainder of the season. However, lets not forget they had already saved significant payroll by trading Luis Castillo to the White Sox. Although this brings us to something more invaluable than the money -- the positive intangibles the two-time All-Star would have brought to the team.

Eugenio Suárez could have been a galvanzing force for the Mariners similar to how Josh Naylor was

It's no secret how popular Suárez remains in Seattle, particularly in the clubhouse. We previously recounted Daniel Kramer's story of how there was an eruption of cheers on the Mariners' team charter last year, when he boarded the plane following his acquisition from the Diamondbacks. When you consider how disappointing and underachieving the M's have been this season, we genuinely believe the 35-year-old would have provided the necessary spark to help them finally live up to their potential.

Further to this point, MLB Network insider Jon Morosi spoke to Bob Stelton and Dave Wyman on Wednesday to discuss the Mariners. And with them having just clinched a losing record for the first time since 2020, Morosi realized the one thing the team had lacked this season, was cohesion. Again, it's hard to escape the notion that Suárez could have brought that cohesion with him, at a time when the M's needed it most.

For context, at the time the Mariners could have claimed Suárez, they were dealing with the fallout from Brendan Donovan's concussion and preparing for a Blue Jays series which served as a pivotal point to breath life into their playoff challenge. However, failing that spark we're convinced the Venezuela native would have provided, they suffered a demoralizing sweep which all but broke them.

We can appreciate those who believe Suárez wouldn't have made a difference, but at the same time the Mariners have lost six one-run games since failing to claim him. Ultimately, our belief when he became available was that it couldn't hurt to bring him back, with both his and the Mariners' form since then only reinforcing this. In a season when the M's have made a plethora of bad decisions, not claiming Suárez is very near the top of the list.

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