First Seiya Suzuki contract prediction reveals asking price Cubs can pay, but won't like

Arms, arms, arms. We know what Jed Hoyer is focused on with the MLB offseason right around the corner. Injuries ravaged the Chicago Cubs' pitching staff this year and the front office took a hat trick last winter in its bullpen additions, with Hunter Harvey, Phil Maton and Hoby Milner all falling shy of expectations.

Edward Cabrera was a major disappointment as the team's chief trade acquisition, so suffice to say, there's work to be done here. Even so, Chicago faces some major position player departures in the form of outfielders Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki.

Simply plugging Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramirez into everyday roles isn't a serious solution, so something will need to be done to either replace Happ and Suzuki or explore bringing at least one of them back on a new deal.

New Spotrac projections this week gave us our first glimpse at what Suzuki might command this winter and, while it's not a number Hoyer will love, it's definitely something a team like the Cubs can fit into the budget. They pegged him for a four-year deal at roughly $90 million all-in, working out to a $22.4 million AAV.

That's a healthy bump on the $17 million AAV in his initial five-year deal with Chicago and it's not hard to see why. The 32-year-old slugger has quietly been one of the league's most consistent outfield bats in recent years and is coming off a Gold Glove nomination in right field and an .841 OPS this season.

Cubs need to do what it takes to bring back Seiya Suzuki in free agency

Looking around the free-agent class of position players, few offer the same upside of Suzuki, even if you're not totally convinced the glove work will be as good as it was in 2026. The primary alternative would be Randy Arozarena, who is coming off a 26-homer, 26-steal campaign in Seattle.

Chicago has a ton of money coming off the books this winter and, sure, pitching needs to be the primary focus but after his quietly impressive season, letting Suzuki walk feels like it would be a big loss to try and overcome right when you're supposedly in the peak of your contention window.

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