Seiya Suzuki signed a five-year, $85 million deal with the Chicago Cubs before the 2022 season, and now he is set up to hit free agency after showing exactly what he can do in the big leagues.
Coming over from Japan, players always come with some risk. There's no real formula to tell how a player's play will translate to the big leagues. In Japan, he was a five-time All-Star, five-time Golden Glove Award winner and two-tim Central League batting champion. To keep it simple, he was one of the best players in Nippon Professional Baseball.
For the Cubs, he slashed .269/.351/.472 in 675 games and hit 113 home runs. According to Marquee Sports, he is behind only Kris Bryant and Ernie Banks for home runs as a Cub in his first five MLB seasons.
"Looking back at the 5 years, I don't know if I was able to reach the expectations that people had (for me) or for myself," Suzuki said through an interpreter after the Cubs' season-ending loss to the San Diego Padres.
Suzuki had high expectations of himself after being one of the best players in his home country. In his mind, he did not live up to those expectations. He posted an .828 OPS in eight postseason games for the Cubs in his five years with the team.
There are already reports that the Toronto Blue Jays will pursue him in free agency. With limited right-handed power bats available in free agency, plenty of teams could be targeting Suzuki.