Cincinnati Reds designated hitter Eugenio Suárez and outfielder TJ Friedl cleared outright waivers Thursday and will still be with the team when it starts its series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Friday.The fact that the front office was willing to part with two players who have appeared in a combined 1,556 games for the Reds indicates that the team is looking toward the future with a month left in the season.For the Reds, the advantage of either player getting picked up would have been purely economic — a team that claimed either player would be responsible for the remainder of the money left on their contract, roughly $3 million for Suárez and $700,000 for Friedl. While both players will now remain with the team through the end of the season, their respective tenures in Cincinnati will almost certainly not extend beyond that.In February, the Reds signed Suárez to a one-year deal worth $15 million, with a $16 million mutual option for 2027 with no buyout. Placing Suárez on waivers indicates the team isn’t planning to exercise the option.Friedl on the deeper meaning of his painted cleatsC. Trent RosecransSuárez going unclaimed on waivers provides further evidence that there was little market for him at the trade deadline. Suárez, 35, is hitting .208/.295/.410 with 19 home runs in 103 games after missing nearly a month beginning in late April with an oblique injury.