Seiya Suzuki Heads to Free Agency as His $85 Million Contract Expires… "A Place Where My Family Can Live With Peace of Mind Comes First"
The Cubs lost 1-4 to the Padres in the Wild Card Series on September 30 (local time) and were eliminated. Suzuki, who is about to become a free agent, named "an environment where my family feels safe" as his criterion. A split has not been decided.
Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.
The contract Seiya Suzuki signed with the Cubs in March 2022 was for five years and $85 million. Four and a half years later, on September 30, 2026 (local time), the final game of the final season of that contract came to an end. MLB official game results show that the Cubs lost 1-4 to the Padres in the Wild Card Series and were eliminated in two straight losses. Suzuki (32) started that game as the cleanup hitter and right fielder and recorded a hit.
Seiya Suzuki's Free Agency Path: "Family's Peace of Mind" Is the Selection Criterion
After the game ended, reporters asked about his future. Sports Hochi reported that, asked about his criterion for choosing his next team, Suzuki answered, "I think a place where my family can live with peace of mind is the best." That means a place where his family can live safely would be best. At the same event, he said his family also likes Chicago. He also added an explanation to the effect that it has not been decided whether he will leave.
This remark is not a declaration of a move but a statement of his selection criterion. TV Tokyo Sports also reported the same-day interview in a similar context. No grounds have been confirmed for interpreting his emphasis on his family's peace of mind as criticism of public safety in Chicago or as a preference for a particular city.
Suzuki's Contract: $85 Million in Total, $18 Million Salary for 2026
MLB.com reports that the total value of the contract is $85 million and the term is 2022 to 2026. The club's official announcement did not include the amount; this figure was reported by MLB.com and the AP based on sources. Dividing the total by five years gives an annual average of $17 million. The base salary for 2026, the final year of the contract, was $18 million, which was $1 million more than the annual average.
Details of Seiya Suzuki's Cubs Contract
| Item | Amount (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total contract value | 85 million | 2022 to 2026, five years |
| Signing bonus | 5 million | Included in the total |
| Annual average | 17 million | Total ÷ 5 years |
| 2026 base salary | 18 million | The FanGraphs payroll figure, which includes the allocation of the signing bonus, is 19 million |
| Posting fee | 14.625 million | Paid to the Hiroshima club, not the player's income |
26 Home Runs in the 2026 Season, Third on the Cubs
Baseball-Reference's final regular-season stats show that Suzuki hit .270 in 143 games in 2026, with 26 home runs and 86 RBIs. He ranks third on the team in home runs. He trails first-place Pete Crow-Armstrong by 19 and second-place Alex Bregman by 2. The Japanese outlet Full-Count listed his RBIs as 80, but MLB's official records and Baseball-Reference both show 86.
Top Five Cubs Home Run Hitters in the 2026 Regular Season
| Rank | Player | Home runs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pete Crow-Armstrong | 45 |
| 2 | Alex Bregman | 28 |
| 3 | Seiya Suzuki | 26 |
| 4 | Ian Happ | 24 |
| 5 | Michael Busch | 20 |
113 Career Home Runs With the Cubs… Official Free Agency Begins the Day After the World Series
MLB Japanese edition tallied Suzuki's five-season career totals with the Cubs as 675 games, a .269 average, 113 home runs and 382 RBIs. Divided over five seasons, that averages out to 135 games, 22.6 home runs and 76.4 RBIs per season. His 26 home runs and 86 RBIs in the final year are 3.4 home runs and 9.6 RBIs above those averages, respectively. In other words, he posted numbers above his five-year average in the final season of the contract.
The day he becomes a free agent is different from the day his team was eliminated. According to MLB's rules guide, the official move to free agency comes the day after the World Series ends. Baseball-Reference's player page lists his free agent year as 2028. However, that is a general listing based on service time. The AP report at the time of the contract and the recent Japanese reports explain that he becomes a free agent when the contract ends. Neither a return to the Cubs nor a contract with a new team has been finalized.
The final season of a contract in which he hit 113 home runs over five years ended with two straight losses in the Wild Card Series. Suzuki himself has said what he will use as the criterion for choosing his next team. After the final game on September 30, he said: "A place where my family can live with peace of mind would be best."
Related Official Sites
- MLB Seiya Suzuki Official Player Stats — Check official records for the 2026 season and MLB career
- Chicago Cubs Official Batting Stats — Compare season stats of Cubs hitters
- NPB Seiya Suzuki Official Year-by-Year Stats — Year-by-year results from his Hiroshima years (2013 to 2021)
- Japan National Baseball Team Seiya Suzuki Official Profile — National team career and profile
Representative image · Archive photo · Not an on-site photo of the current game in the article · Photo=Wikimedia Commons (User:STB-1), CC BY-SA 4.0
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