If that's what it took to get Eugenio Suárez, the Phillies should have been in

As things stand now, Rob Thomson may very well be forced to have Alec Bohm — making $10.2 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility — hit cleanup for a team with World Series aspirations when the Phillies open their 2026 slate against the Texas Rangers on March 26. 

What we learned Sunday evening is they could have had Eugenio Suárez hitting cleanup and playing third base on Opening Day for $15 million. 

That may seem like an oversimplification, but Suárez — who is coming off of the second 49-homer season of his career — is returning to the Cincinnati Reds, his original team, on a one-year/$15 million contract. The deal was first reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN, with Jon Heyman of The New York Post reporting that there's a mutual option for 2027 worth $16 million. 

Suárez is hardly a perfect player, and we're not going to overlook some of his shortcomings to prove a point here. 

• He's going to shift to DH in Cincinnati, partly because they have all-world defender Ke'Bryan Hayes at third base, and partly because he posted minus-six defensive runs saved and minus-three outs above average in 2025. He's never been a great third baseman, and at this stage of his career, he probably is more suited to play either first base or to DH. 
• He is someone that's going to strike out a ton, as he was K'd 196 times during a 2025 campaign that he split between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners. The Phillies would strike out a lot between him and Schwarber. 
• He's 34 years old, and will turn 35 in July. Suárez would be joining a lineup that's long in the tooth with the likes of Bryce Harper (33), Kyle Schwarber (33 in March), J.T. Realmuto (35 in March), Trea Turner (33 in June) and Adolis García (33 in March). 

For those reasons, when the New York Mets seemingly stole Bo Bichette away from the Phillies on Jan. 16, it didn't make sense for Dave Dombrowski and company to immediately pivot to Suárez on a multi-year deal. (We can argue about whether pivoting to Realmuto on a three-year/$45 million deal made sense, but they needed a catcher and what's done is done.) 

However, Suárez didn't wind up getting a multi-year deal. And while he wouldn't come without his flaws, you'll be hard pressed to find an opposing team that would be more scared to face the Phillies with any of Bohm, García or Realmuto hitting cleanup, as opposed to Suárez. 

Again, Suárez hit 49 home runs last year and posted an .824 OPS, despite getting traded back to the hitting hellscape that is T-Mobile Park in the middle of what seemed destined to be a 55+ homer season at one point. The difference in power production over the last two seasons when comparing Suárez to Bohm, García or Realmuto is stark: 

Suárez since start of 2024 season: 79 homers, 56 doubles, 219 RBIs, .806 OPS, 121 OPS+

Bohm since start of 2024 season: 26 homers, 62 doubles, 156 RBIs, .762 OPS, 109 OPS+

García since start of 2024 season: 44 homers, 55 doubles, 160 RBIs, .675 OPS, 96 OPS+

Realmuto since start of 2024 season: 26 homers, 44 doubles, 99 RBIs, .722 OPS

There is Bohm fatigue from many Phillies fans, since he has not ultimately lived up to expectations placed on him when he entered the league after being selected No. 3 overall in the MLB Draft. However, the point here isn't to say that the Phillies should have non-tendered Bohm. RBIs are not the best way to gauge offensive value, but they do matter, and Bohm drove in 97 runs in both 2023 and 2024. He's miscast as a cleanup hitter, but he has a place in the league, and $10.2 million is not an obscene price to pay him if he's healthy. 

This is also not revisionist history on García. The Phillies took a calculated risk giving him a one-year/$10 million deal in December. It's fair to wonder if Harrison Bader had been willing to take the two-year/$20.5 million deal he ultimately signed with the San Francisco Giants at that time if the Phillies would have gone in another direction, but García was one of the game's most electric players as recently as 2023. He's an interesting bounce-back candidate. 

Neither, though, should be hitting cleanup for you. Frankly, they probably shouldn't be hitting fifth, at least not to start the season. Suárez — he of the 325 career home runs — could have. 

The Phillies do have luxury tax threshold considerations that need to be discussed whenever there's talk of signing anyone at this point. According to Roster Resource, the estimated luxury tax payroll for the Phillies in 2026 is $318,965,439. That puts them well over the highest luxury tax threshold of $304 million. For any overages above $304 million, the Phillies pay a 110% tax. That — even when talking about billionaires — is an insane price to pay. The Phillies would have paid it on the entirety of Suárez's $15 million salary if they had given him the same deal as the Reds. So to sign Suárez for one year, John Middleton and his ownership group would have had to pay $31.5 million total between his salary and the luxury tax penalties. 

Of course, if you traded Bohm's $10.2 million salary — which the Phillies were seemingly prepared to do if they signed Bichette — you would only be taking on $4.8 million in new salary. From that perspective, it feels much more reasonable. 

Maybe the Phillies felt they wouldn't find a taker for Bohm's entire salary in a trade. Perhaps they are worried about Suárez hitting a wall in his mid-30s. Maybe they think there's only room for one 40-homer, 200-strikeout guy on a team. 

But you get the feeling that the Phillies are going to be searching for a middle-of-the-order bat before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, and if that type of player can be had, it will cost a pretty penny in prospect capital. Suárez, one of the game's elite sluggers, just signed for $15 million and only required a one-year commitment. Which route sounds better to you? 

Read More Phillies Content At On Pattison

1. 13 Phillies milestones that could be reached in 2026
2. Phillies reportedly sign former Gold Glover to minor-league deal with ST invite
3. David Robertson — who was a Phillie three different times — is retiring
4. Harrison Bader calls Phillies fans 'most incredible fanbase that I've ever had an opportunity to play in front of'
5. What uniforms should the Phillies wear for the Field of Dreams game?
6. Keith Law ranks Aidan Miller as No. 6 prospect in baseball
7. Jesús Luzardo explains why he's opting not to pitch in the World Baseball Classic
8. Report says Mets were more serious players for Kyle Schwarber 'than previously publicly known'
9. Jesús Luzardo is NOT repped by Scott Boras
10. Following Ranger Suárez's departure, these are the 5 longest-tenured Phillies