DALLAS — As the Chicago Cubs evaluate the trade market and whom they could move from an offensive group that needs a different look, outfielder Seiya Suzuki is willing to consider waiving his full no-trade clause.
Suzuki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, told reporters Tuesday that Suzuki has an open mind, adding that president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer talked to Wolfe on Monday night about the situation, including which teams the Cubs have been talking to.
Suzuki would be one of the best bats available via trade after producing a top-20 offensive season in the majors in 2024.
“I don’t think he wants to trade Seiya, but there may be a scenario where he feels like he has a deal that he can’t say no to,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe said it’s “a small universe” that Suzuki would consider being traded to. The 30-year-old has two years and $36 million remaining on his contract.
“Seiya is a very strongly opinionated guy, so I could see where that might happen, but it didn’t sound like it was necessarily likely,” Wolfe said.
Cody Bellinger’s decision to pick up his 2025 player option sets up a possible repeat of how manager Craig Counsell often utilized his four regular outfielders — with Bellinger in right field and Suzuki as the designated hitter — once Pete Crow-Armstrong became the everyday starter in center.
Being the DH is not Suzuki’s preferred position and he would like to play in the outfield, though that experience at times became adventurous with routine fly balls. Of Suzuki’s 10 errors in his three seasons with the Cubs, only three have come on throws.
Suzuki made 59 of his 131 starts this year as the DH. He ranked 14th in the majors in weighted on-base average (.365), 16th in weighted runs created plus (138) and 18th in OPS (.848).
“If he was being posted in Japan and teams were presenting to him 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,” Wolfe said. “Seiya was a great defender in Japan, so it’s not a compliment to him being a DH.”