Cubs Rumors: International star Seiya Suzuki expected to hit market soon

After being initially reported in late October that Nippon Professional Baseball star Seiya Suzuki could be posted for MLB teams this offseason, MLB Network insider Joel Sherman reports that the Hiroshima Toyo Carp will officially announce his posting this week.

To this point, Suzuki, 27, has played professional baseball in his native Japan, including nine NPB seasons. This past summer he was a member of gold medal-winning Team Japan in the Tokyo Olympics. Sherman and others report that Suzuki will likely draw “a lot of free agent interest” this winter, and the Chicago Cubs could be one of those teams.

The 5-11, 182-pound native of Arakawa, Japan made his debut in the NPB at the age of 19 in 2013 after being drafted by Hiroshima the year prior. Playing primarily in the outfield since 2015, Suzuki has been a force at the plate. In 901 career NPB games, he is a career .315/.415/.571 hitter with 182 home runs, 182 doubles, 562 RBI, 82 stolen bases and a .985 OPS. Combining his highest NPB level and his time in the Western League (minors), he is a career .309/.402/.542 hitter in Japanese professional baseball.

His efforts have earned him many honors, including three Central League Gold Gloves, five All-Star nods, four Best Nine Awards and he was the batting champion of the NPB in 2019.

In addition to being selected as the starting right fielder on the Japanese Olympic team in 2020, he also participated in the 2017 World Baseball Classic as well as the 2019 World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier 12 tournament. He won the tournament MVP award for his efforts in the WBSC. With all of his accomplishments, he is today considered one of the very best in the NPB and is ready to bring his talents to Major League Baseball.

Suzuki possesses a great balance of power, hitting, on-base, speed and defense. He is coming off a year in which he hit a career-high 38 home runs with a wRC+ over 200. In other words, there are plenty reasons why big league clubs should be interested in him.

How do the Chicago Cubs view Seiya Suzuki as he nears posting?

Money should be no object for the Cubs this winter. While it is understandable to not want to spend an albatross amount of money on one or two players, Suzuki shouldn’t fall into that group by any means. He will probably get a pretty sizable deal which could be in the eight-figure range, but not what top free agents like Carlos Correa are looking for. The AAV for a potential Suzuki deal could look very reasonable depending on the length of the deal.

There are plenty of holes to fill on this roster, and the Cubs want to see more consistent production from the outfield going forward. If they do not want to go after Nick Castellanos or other notable outfielders already on the market, then this would be a good place for them to gauge and consider. While it is a bit riskier than an established MLB player, there could be great value in Suzuki, who is in his prime playing years.

Cubs Insider wrote a piece earlier this month detailing a report out of Japan saying the Chicago Cubs could indeed be interested in Suzuki. Once everything becomes official we will see how serious the club could potentially be in the sweepstakes.

Other teams that have already expressed interest reportedly include the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox.