January 21, 2026 5:57 PM PST
While the overwhelming majority of the focus on the Cubs outfield mix this winter has been on the trade candidacy of , teammate has emerged as an intriguing trade candidate in his own right in recent weeks. Previous reporting has described the club as to move one of the two outfielders, and today Suzukis agent Joel Wolfe offered notable insight on the po sibility of his client getting dealt, as . Wolfe told reporters (including Rogers) this afternoon that Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer approached him last night about which teams are interested in Suzukis services. Notably, Suzuki has a full no-trade clause, meaning that he and Wolfe are free to reject any trade proposal involving the outfielder. Wolfe suggested that while Suzuki is theoretically open to a trade, he added that its a pretty small universe in terms of teams he would be willing to entertain being moved to. In addition to confirming that there are teams at least inquiring on Suzukis availability, Wolfes comments also revealed one potential motivation for Suzuki to entertain trade offers: his desire to play the outfield Edwin Uceta Jersey on a regular basis. Following the emergence of top prospect as the clubs everyday center fielder last summer, Suzuki found himself parked at DH on a regular basis once the clubs outfield mix was fully health and Bellinger cemented himself as the clubs regular right fielder. Thats a situation he was evidently displeased with, as Wolfe suggested that Suzuki likely would not have signed with a team who pitched being their everyday DH to him in free agency. That potential source of discord between player and team shines a new light on the Cubs efforts to trade either Suzuki or Bellinger this winter. With locked in as the clubs left fielder and Crow-Armstrong having cemented himself in center, its undeniable that the clubs best defensive alignment with their current group of players involves Bellinger in right field with Suzuki at DH. Suzuki was well-regarded defensively for his work in the outfield during his NPB days but has oscillated between average and below average throughout his three seasons in the big leagues according to defensive metrics. His -3 Outs Above Average last year ranked 33rd among 42 qualified right fielders. While Bellinger did not get enough reps to qualify, hes earned +2 Outs Above Average for his work acro s all three outfield spots in two seasons with the Cubs and is generally regarded as a plus defender in an outfield corner. Of course, thats not to say the Cubs would nece sarily prefer to trade Suzuki. Indeed, the clubs apparent aggre sivene s in shopping Bellinger suggests just the opposite, and its not hard to see why. For one things, Bellingers $27.5MM salary in 2025 eclipses the $19MM Suzuki is owed this year, and Bellingers player option for 2026 offers Chicago le s certainty moving forward than Suzukis guaranteed contract. Whats more, Suzuki is a better hitter and perhaps even the best hitter on the team. The 29-year-olds .283/.366/.482 (138 wRC+) slash line this year dwarfs Bellingers own line of .266/.325/.426 (109 wRC+), and Suzuki has long been a statcast darling who hits the ball hard and takes his walks compared to Bellingers low exit velocities and contact-oriented approach. To that end, Cubs GM Carter Hawkins spoke to reporters (including ) this afternoon and downplayed the likelihood of a trade. We dont want to trade Seiya, Hawkins said, as relayed by Montemurro. but, look, as [Wolfe] talked about theres people interested in great players and so if teams come asking those are at least conversations that were willing to have, but I really dont think much is going to come of it. Hawkinss comments lend further credence to regarding Suzukis availability that suggested while the Cubs were willing to entertain offers for the slugger, a deal was only likely to come together if Chicago was unable to trade Bellinger. To this point, Bellinger has received reported interest from the , , , and at the very least, suggesting that a Bellinger trade remains the more likely outcome unle s the market for his services falls apart in the coming days and weeks. Jacob Lopez Jersey
While the overwhelming majority of the focus on the Cubs outfield mix this winter has been on the trade candidacy of , teammate has emerged as an intriguing trade candidate in his own right in recent weeks. Previous reporting has described the club as to move one of the two outfielders, and today Suzukis agent Joel Wolfe offered notable insight on the po sibility of his client getting dealt, as . Wolfe told reporters (including Rogers) this afternoon that Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer approached him last night about which teams are interested in Suzukis services. Notably, Suzuki has a full no-trade clause, meaning that he and Wolfe are free to reject any trade proposal involving the outfielder. Wolfe suggested that while Suzuki is theoretically open to a trade, he added that its a pretty small universe in terms of teams he would be willing to entertain being moved to. In addition to confirming that there are teams at least inquiring on Suzukis availability, Wolfes comments also revealed one potential motivation for Suzuki to entertain trade offers: his desire to play the outfield Edwin Uceta Jersey on a regular basis. Following the emergence of top prospect as the clubs everyday center fielder last summer, Suzuki found himself parked at DH on a regular basis once the clubs outfield mix was fully health and Bellinger cemented himself as the clubs regular right fielder. Thats a situation he was evidently displeased with, as Wolfe suggested that Suzuki likely would not have signed with a team who pitched being their everyday DH to him in free agency. That potential source of discord between player and team shines a new light on the Cubs efforts to trade either Suzuki or Bellinger this winter. With locked in as the clubs left fielder and Crow-Armstrong having cemented himself in center, its undeniable that the clubs best defensive alignment with their current group of players involves Bellinger in right field with Suzuki at DH. Suzuki was well-regarded defensively for his work in the outfield during his NPB days but has oscillated between average and below average throughout his three seasons in the big leagues according to defensive metrics. His -3 Outs Above Average last year ranked 33rd among 42 qualified right fielders. While Bellinger did not get enough reps to qualify, hes earned +2 Outs Above Average for his work acro s all three outfield spots in two seasons with the Cubs and is generally regarded as a plus defender in an outfield corner. Of course, thats not to say the Cubs would nece sarily prefer to trade Suzuki. Indeed, the clubs apparent aggre sivene s in shopping Bellinger suggests just the opposite, and its not hard to see why. For one things, Bellingers $27.5MM salary in 2025 eclipses the $19MM Suzuki is owed this year, and Bellingers player option for 2026 offers Chicago le s certainty moving forward than Suzukis guaranteed contract. Whats more, Suzuki is a better hitter and perhaps even the best hitter on the team. The 29-year-olds .283/.366/.482 (138 wRC+) slash line this year dwarfs Bellingers own line of .266/.325/.426 (109 wRC+), and Suzuki has long been a statcast darling who hits the ball hard and takes his walks compared to Bellingers low exit velocities and contact-oriented approach. To that end, Cubs GM Carter Hawkins spoke to reporters (including ) this afternoon and downplayed the likelihood of a trade. We dont want to trade Seiya, Hawkins said, as relayed by Montemurro. but, look, as [Wolfe] talked about theres people interested in great players and so if teams come asking those are at least conversations that were willing to have, but I really dont think much is going to come of it. Hawkinss comments lend further credence to regarding Suzukis availability that suggested while the Cubs were willing to entertain offers for the slugger, a deal was only likely to come together if Chicago was unable to trade Bellinger. To this point, Bellinger has received reported interest from the , , , and at the very least, suggesting that a Bellinger trade remains the more likely outcome unle s the market for his services falls apart in the coming days and weeks. Jacob Lopez Jersey