Report: Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs among suitors for Seiya Suzuki

The top international prospect in baseball reportedly has a short list, and several of the league's top teams made the cut.

Seiya Suzuki, the star Japanese outfielder from Nippon Professional Baseball, is believed to be pursued by a number of teams with a few emerging as "hottest pursuers," MLB Network's Jon Heyman reports. Heyman claims the Mariners, Giants, Dodgers, Cubs and Red Sox are among the teams who have shown the most interest in Suzuki.

At 27, Suzuki figures to be an immediate contributor for whichever Major League club acquires his services. He hit .317/.433/.636 last season with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of NPB, slugging 38 homers and totaling 88 RBIs over 134 games.

Over nine seasons in NPB, Suzuki hit .315/.414/.570 and hit 182 home runs. He's spent his entire Japanese career with Hiroshima, and has accumulated a lot of hardware over that time: five All-Star selections, four Best Nine Awards, and five Gold Gloves. He also helped Japan win the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

ZiPS projects Suzuki's contract to come out to five years, $83 million, though a significant chunk of that would go to his Japanese club. That salary is in line for their projected performance for Suzuki, as they have him hitting .287/.351/.480 with 23 homers and 85 RBIs in 2022 and only slightly declining over the rest of his contract.