The Chicago Cubs recently shocked the baseball world when they acquired Houston Astros superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker in a blockbuster deal. Following this trade, the Cubs continued to stay in the headlines. Now, Chicago would need to ship away some of its big-league outfielders after acquiring such a talented one.
SBNation's John Stolnis believes the Cubs will explore the idea of trading outfielder/designated hitter Seiya Suzuki, which is a rumor that's been swirling around baseball for weeks.
"After the trade for Tucker, the Cubs likely need to move one of their outfielders elsewhere, and there was already talk before the Tucker acquisition that Suzuki could be one of them," Stolnis wrote. "Forced to DH last year, Suzuki wants to play the outfield and it's likely he'll be on the move at some point this winter. The Japanese import has been largely outstanding since his debut in 2022, improving each season in WAR (1.8, 2.8, 3.5), with a .848 OPS and 138 OPS+ last season, 21 HRs, and 73 RBIs in 585 plate appearances."
While Suzuki is an outfielder, he's closer to an everyday designated hitter than a true outfielder because of his poor defense. Still, his bat is productive enough that he would garner some trade attention following the top free-agent outfielders signing their deals.
While the Cubs may not get much in return for the $85 million outfielder, it would be good to get off his deal while clearing a bit of the logjam in the outfield. Cody Bellinger is expected to be traded as well.
