Cubs know Seiya Suzuki doesn't want to DH - but that won't change the team's plans

It felt like this topic dominated all Chicago Cubs talk for weeks at the offseason's midway point, but we're going to put a bow on it once and for all (or, at least until later this week when position players report and reporters ask him about it) - but Seiya Suzuki will be the team's primary DH in 2025 - whether he likes it or not.

Suzuki closed out the 2025 season as the team's designated hitter - and saw his offensive production actually improve during that stretch, posting a .933 OPS down the stretch. Despite that fact, his agent Joel Wolfe made it clear he didn't want to transition to that role on a full-time basis this year during public comments at the Winter Meetings, which fueled speculation the Cubs might trade Suzuki.

All that seems to be for naught. Suzuki is gearing up for his fourth season with Chicago and will be the team's DH, something we all knew but had confirmed by Craig Counsell this weekend when he sat down with the media in Mesa.

“Kyle Tucker is going to play right field. Ian [Happ is] going to play left field. Pete [Crow-Armstrong is] going to play a lot of center field,” Counsell said. “And that’s going to lead Seiya [Suzuki] to the DH most days ... I understand he wants to be in the field, and I get it. He wants to be in the field. The DH is not the position he wants to necessarily play.”

Counsell and the Cubs are unquestionably making the right call here. Looking at Suzuki's fellow outfielders, it's clear the trio of Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker is the best defensive combination. After all, Happ has won three straight Gold Gloves in left, Tucker has brought home a Gold Glove in right and PCA is widely regarded as one of the premier defensive center fielders in the game after just one full big-league season.

Suzuki may not like it, and I suspect we'll hear from him when he gets to Arizona this week. But it's Counsell's job to put the best lineup out there on a daily basis. Given Suzuki's offensive prowess and intermittent defensive lapses in right, trotting out arguably the best defensive outfield in the league while keeping his bat in the middle of the order is a no-brainer as spring training gets underway.