Brewers lose out on top deadline target after Mariners' late-night deal

Just an hour before "deadline day" officially begins, the Seattle Mariners have taken the biggest name off the board. At 10:57 p.m. CT on Wednesday night, ESPN's MLB insider, Jeff Passan, revealed that the Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to trade Eugenio Suárez to the Mariners in exchange for three of Seattle's Top-30 prospects: No. 9 ranked Tyler Locklear, No. 16 ranked Hunter Cranton, and No. 17 ranked Juan Burgos. Suárez is the second major addition for Jerry Dipoto and the Mariners this deadline, as the team added another Diamondback, first baseman Josh Naylor, last Thursday.

The Mariners enter play on "deadline day" 4.5 games back of the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West and in possession of the final AL Wild Card spot. Adding both Naylor and Suárez to a lineup that already includes Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, and Randy Arozarena, gives the Mariners an exciting offense to pair with their elite starting rotation for what should be a tight playoff race in the American League.

Meanwhile, Suárez was the dream trade candidate for the Milwaukee Brewers; he has a ton of power, plays a fine third base, and would have solidified the middle of the Crew's lineup during their race for the NL Central. But alas, the Brewers will now have to look elsewhere for an offensive upgrade, should they choose to add one prior to 5:00 p.m. CT on Thursday.

Mariners win "Eugenio Suárez sweepstakes" with underwhelming package of prospects

Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of the losing out on the Suárez sweepstakes is the fact that the Mariners certainly did not "sell the farm" to acquire the slugging third baseman. Yes, they sent three of their Top-30 prospects, but Seattle has eight MLB Top-100 prospects, and Arizona didn't demand any of them in the Suárez deal.

Locklear is the highlight of the return package. He's a slugging first baseman who debuted with a short stint in the majors in 2024. While those 16 major league games didn't go well, Locklear is back to tearing the cover off the ball in Triple-A this season. That said, until he proves he can replicate his success at the major league level, there are still a few question marks in his profile. While he does add some value on the base paths, his glove is average, and he still chases out of the zone quite a bit, per MLB Pipeline. Given his track record, his ranking as a prospect, and where he is in his development, Locklear draws a lot of comparisons to the Brewers' first base prospect, Tyler Black.

Meanwhile, the other two prospects that the Mariners gave up, No. 16 ranked Hunter Cranton and No. 17 ranked Juan Burgos, are both having exceptional years in the Mariners farm system (Burgos has appeared in four games for the big-league club), but as relief pitchers, not starters. The value of a starter is much higher than that of a reliever, and while Burgos is already big-league ready, Cranton still has a few stops to make before he reaches MLB. That said, Cranton does have a uniquely strong fastball, and Burgos, despite posting average numbers in his brief time in the majors, has a sub-1.00 ERA in 25 appearances for the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate this year. Another relief pitching prospect with a sub-1.00 ERA in Triple-A this year with pedestrian numbers at the major league level? Craig Yoho.

So, let's say a relatively comparable offer from the Brewers would have been Tyler Black, Craig Yoho, and K.C. Hunt, who held a 2.03 ERA as a reliever and starter for the Biloxi Shuckers in 2024. That's not a crazy offer, and certainly isn't one that would fall into the "selling the farm" category. No, it's not a perfect comp, but even if you replace one of those three with a slightly higher-ranked prospect, is that too much to offer for the best bat on the market?