The Seiya Suzuki Trade Rumors Just Became A Lot More Real
Ugh, I do not like this, nope, don’t like this at all. So, remember that story about the Cubs reportedly being interested in trading Seiya Suzuki that we almost all instantly shit on because why would the team want to move their best hitter? Well, it turns out that rumor may actually have a lot more truth behind it than originally thought.
During the Winter Meetings on Tuesday, Suzuki’s agent Joel Wolfe spoke to the media about several topics and then all of a sudden Wolfe revealed some inside information about Suzuki and the Cubs. He flat out said that Jed Hoyer has already given him a list of teams that are interested in trading for Suzuki.
The right-handed hitter, who signed a five-year, $85 million deal with the Cubs heading into the 2022 season, has two years left on his contract that includes a full no-trade clause.
News: Cubs OF Seiya Suzuki's agent, Joel Wolfe, said Jed Hoyer informed him just last night which teams are interested in him. (He has a full no-trade clause). Wolfe also made it pretty clear Suzuki does not want to be a DH which is where he finished last season: "It's a small…
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) December 10, 2024
Wolfe didn’t stop there. He added that Suzuki is not happy about ending the 2024 season as the designated hitter. The Cubs moved Suzuki out of right field after his defensive struggles throughout the year.
Joel Wolfe on Suzuki: "I think that if he was being posted in Japan and teams were presenting to them their opportunities and they said you could come here and be our full time DH, I don't think he would have signed with that team"
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) December 10, 2024
Should be noted he did not have a good yr on D
All this being said, Wolfe did pour cold water on the idea of the Cubs trading Suzuki this offseason. However, I guess we now know that trade talks involving Suzuki are very much happening.
Seiya Suzuki would consider waiving his full no-trade clause per his agent Joel Wolfe.
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) December 10, 2024
Wolfe: Jed Hoyer is very communicative & told him which teams Cubs talk to. "I don't think he wants to trade Seiya but there may be a scenario where he feels he has a deal he can't say no to."
I mean, I hate the idea. Sure, the Cubs would get valuable players in return and there are other paths to improving the team, but man, I did not see Suzuki being a serious trade candidate this offseason and apparently he might be.
(Previous Update)
Joel Sherman writes for the New York Post, he’s a longtime baseball reporter, but holy shit this simply cannot be true. While discussing why the New York Yankees should pursue a Cody Bellinger trade even if the team does re-sign Juan Soto, Sherman dropped another nugget that is quite frankly mind-blowing for how stupid the Cubs would be to consider this.
According to Sherman, one of his sources says the Cubs are “determined” to trade one of Bellinger or Seiya Suzuki.
Via the New York Post.
“The Cubs are determined to trade either Bellinger (due $27.5 million in 2025 with a $25 million player option in 2026 or $5 million buyout), or Seiya Suzuki (two years at $36 million) to reallocate that money elsewhere, a source familiar with Chicago’s thinking told The Post.”
For my sanity I have to believe that whoever this source may be is utterly confused on the objective of the Cubs’ offseason plan to trade Bellinger. That part isn’t new. We know the Cubs have been shopping Bellinger around since he opted back in to his contract in November and teams are starting to call back. Bellinger will earn a base salary of $27.5 million from the Cubs in 2025 and can then opt out if he chooses to.
Under no circumstances does it make sense for the Chicago Cubs to trade Suzuki, now or probably ever. Unfathomable. Bleacher Nation’s Brett Taylor also wrote about this outrageous report and maybe this was the reasoning behind the source’s thought process.
Until and unless we hear more about this being an actual thing, I’m just going to assume this was about wires getting crossed, and/or about some source making an assumption based on the positional overlap between Bellinger and Suzuki in right field.
That has to be it, right? Someone not so familiar with the Cubs just sees that they’re trying to unload salary and see that Bellinger took over in right field in 2024 and with Suzuki being the other right fielder it must mean the Cubs will look to move either one. But of course, we know that Suzuki easily slid into the DH role and was the team’s best hitter last season and for the last two years Suzuki has been a top-10 hitter in the National League.
Oh and Suzuki has a no-trade clause as well.
What the fuck are we doing here? Until further notice, we should take that Suzuki detail from Sherman and completely forget about it.