Report: Chicago Cubs Sign Seiya Suzuki

After months of being posted, Japanese phenom Seiya Suzuki has finally found a home with the Chicago Cubs.

Author:
Declan Harris
Mar 16, 2022 10:30 AM EDT

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Seiya Suzuki and the Chicago Cubs have reached a five-year contract worth $70 million dollars.

The deal comes after there were reports that the two sides had met on Monday night, with the San Diego Padres being the other team rumored to be in serious talks with the Japanese phenom.

The 27-year-old spent nine years in Japan where he held an slash line of .315/.414/.570, while being awarded several awards. Those included the Central League Golden Glove Award, Best Nine Award winner, Central League Batting Champion, as well as having been named to the All-Star team several times. He also won a gold medal with Team Japan in the 2020 Tokyo Games.

As Suzuki is coming overseas from Nippon Professional Baseball, his former team, the Hiroshima Carp, is due a posting fee. According to the MLB's Japanese Posting system rules, "For Major League contracts with a total guaranteed value of $50,000,001 or more, the release fee will be 20 percent of the first $25 million-plus 17.5 percent of next $25 million-plus 15 percent of the total guaranteed value exceeding $50 million."

With the exact contract details not being known at the time of publication, if the Cubs were to include bonuses in Suzuki's contract, they would be subject to pay the Carp upwards of 15% of any bonus given.