Chicago Cubs face big dilemma in Seiya Suzuki

It’s hard not to like Suzuki and, as gaffes go, Friday’s was absolutely not a big deal, especially since it’s very early in the spring and he’s not all that likely to play much center field anyway. But it does, at least somewhat, highlight the fact that the 31-year-old outfielder can be up and down as a player.

Suzuki is eligible for free agency at the end of this coming season and the Cubs will have to make a decision on what they want to do with the hot-and-cold right fielder who came to the team in 2022 on a 5-year, $85 million deal.

Last season, he had a career offensive year when it came to power numbers, hitting 32 home runs and driving in 103 as mostly a DH. He went through some long, rough patches, though. But then he came around at the end of the season to light things up with 8 home runs and 15 RBIs through the last twelve games of the year (eight playoff games and the last four regular season games). He also played a pretty solid right field, replacing a hurt and limited Kyle Tucker.

“It came with some really high highs and some really low lows,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, referring to Suzuki’s 2025. “I was really happy for him in the way it ended. He was so dangerous for us at the end of the season and so dangerous in the postseason. That was something that was really important to him. He’s a really, really good middle of the order hitter.”

Is Suzuki a goner after 2026?

The big, immediate question when it comes to Suzuki, however, is whether to spend the money needed to bring him back for the next several seasons. He’ll surely want more than the $17 AAV he made under the last contract and Chicago will find itself with some tough spending decisions heading into 2027.

Also potentially eligible for free agency at the end of 2026 are Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, and Carson Kelly (among others).

A bid to extend Hoerner should be a no-brainer, but, realistically, the Cubs will have to let some of these guys walk.

“I want to stay”

Suzuki would appear to be on the bubble in that regard. It’s not likely that the team will spend big on bringing both corner outfielders, Happ and Suzuki, back. If they choose to retain one, they might go for the more consistent and reliable (and defensively sound) Happ.

For what it’s worth, Suzuki is very vocal about loving Chicago, the organization, and wanting to stay.

“I’m not sure,” Suzuki, via interpreter, told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, regarding his future after the coming season. “It depends on my performance. If I perform well, I want to stay. I feel like I still haven’t put up the numbers that people are expecting me to. It comes down to how I perform.”

Unfortunately, it may not be as simple as that.

On the other hand, nobody on the list of likely available corner outfielders in the 2027 free agent class stands out as markedly better than either Suzuki or Happ. It’ll be interesting to see how the Cubs handle this free agent situation at the end of the year.

For now, 2026 awaits.