Whaddaya Seiya Suzuki (Signed with Cubs, 5/$85m)

[cl smooth]

after watching these home run montages, i'm psyched to watch this guy hit dingers at wrigley

[Thusly Boned]

after watching these home run montages, i'm psyched to watch this guy hit dingers at wrigley

 

Yeah, not many cheapies in there

[OleMissCub]

 

That 185# listing on BbRef is obsolete, more like 205, maybe even 215 and a brickhouse...I also like how he played mostly SS and 3B until moving to the OF full time

 

Yep, he looks physically stronger than many of the other NPB players. He doesn't skip leg day that's for sure.

[CubinNY]

He's got a quiet approach and a nice quick swing without much hitch in the load. A highly repeatable swing.

[Backtobanks]

Now that I feel more caught up on this guy, personally basically ignored him due to Bryant's availability (shoulda been both!), it feels like we're not excited enough? Being in writing is going to make this sound more sensational than intended, but the Cubs basically landed the Mike Trout of the NPB in his prime. This isn't to say they landed a player 1 to 1 as savage as Mike Trout, the NPB is still a smaller and younger league plus the several season gap, but yeah he's legitimately been the best all around player and hitter in the NPB since he was 21 (to not slight Trout at 20). They also share in common bad franchises, improving plate discipline and power production into the 20s, and making their debuts as teenagers (18 for Suzuki, 19 for Trout just ftr)

 

Maybe it's easier to see a comparison to Hideki Matsui, who came over off a similar offensive run as Suzuki and ended up posting 20 rWAR in the MLB with ~17 of that through his age 33. Matsui had a 7 year run in the NPB to Seiya Suzuki's 6, posted 4 1.000 OPS seasons in a row to Suzuki's 3, but also broke out later (22), came over the MLB significantly later (29)...The Cubs got Suzuki at a great time too outside of just being 27/: hitting 38 HRs with another .300+ IsoSLG last year should appease any models worried about a dip in power after 2018...Again not trying to be sensational at all but yeah, there's the shot at a 25+ WAR player here where OMC's Josh Donaldson mention doesn't seem so wild

 

That 185# listing on BbRef is obsolete, more like 205, maybe even 215 and a brickhouse...I also like how he played mostly SS and 3B until moving to the OF full time

 

Suzuki looks like a good solid ML player, but I think we ought to hold off on the Mike Trout comparisons for 2-3 years.

[Derwood]

Dude's got a great "stare down" game. Admire dem dongs

[Cubswin11]

Now that I feel more caught up on this guy, personally basically ignored him due to Bryant's availability (shoulda been both!), it feels like we're not excited enough? Being in writing is going to make this sound more sensational than intended, but the Cubs basically landed the Mike Trout of the NPB in his prime. This isn't to say they landed a player 1 to 1 as savage as Mike Trout, the NPB is still a smaller and younger league plus the several season gap, but yeah he's legitimately been the best all around player and hitter in the NPB since he was 21 (to not slight Trout at 20). They also share in common bad franchises, improving plate discipline and power production into the 20s, and making their debuts as teenagers (18 for Suzuki, 19 for Trout just ftr)

 

Maybe it's easier to see a comparison to Hideki Matsui, who came over off a similar offensive run as Suzuki and ended up posting 20 rWAR in the MLB with ~17 of that through his age 33. Matsui had a 7 year run in the NPB to Seiya Suzuki's 6, posted 4 1.000 OPS seasons in a row to Suzuki's 3, but also broke out later (22), came over the MLB significantly later (29)...The Cubs got Suzuki at a great time too outside of just being 27/: hitting 38 HRs with another .300+ IsoSLG last year should appease any models worried about a dip in power after 2018...Again not trying to be sensational at all but yeah, there's the shot at a 25+ WAR player here where OMC's Josh Donaldson mention doesn't seem so wild

 

That 185# listing on BbRef is obsolete, more like 205, maybe even 215 and a brickhouse...I also like how he played mostly SS and 3B until moving to the OF full time

 

Suzuki looks like a good solid ML player, but I think we ought to hold off on the Mike Trout comparisons for 2-3 years.

The Trout and A-Rod comps can be saved for Brennan and Hernandez

[UMFan83]

Weird deal. $5m signing bonus and $7m in the first year before jumping up in year 2. Guessing structured to sign more players but the Cubs currently have a mid-market team payroll

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Weird deal. $5m signing bonus and $7m in the first year before jumping up in year 2. Guessing structured to sign more players but the Cubs currently have a mid-market team payroll

 

Probably because the posting fee is due up front so it smooths the total Suzuki expenditure a bit.

[David]

 

that's a big solid dude

[UMFan83]

 

So nice of him to say after the fans booed him his first year then openly questioned his injuries, then management traded him away for teenagers after a Cy Young caliber season.

 

Sorry this is a pretty negative take, I'm jaded. There were some great moments in 2019-2020 that clearly endeared him to the fanbase. But I was wondering if Suzuki did talk to Yu and if so what he would say.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Now that I feel more caught up on this guy, personally basically ignored him due to Bryant's availability (shoulda been both!), it feels like we're not excited enough? Being in writing is going to make this sound more sensational than intended, but the Cubs basically landed the Mike Trout of the NPB in his prime. This isn't to say they landed a player 1 to 1 as savage as Mike Trout, the NPB is still a smaller and younger league plus the several season gap, but yeah he's legitimately been the best all around player and hitter in the NPB since he was 21 (to not slight Trout at 20). They also share in common bad franchises, improving plate discipline and power production into the 20s, and making their debuts as teenagers (18 for Suzuki, 19 for Trout just ftr)

 

Maybe it's easier to see a comparison to Hideki Matsui, who came over off a similar offensive run as Suzuki and ended up posting 20 rWAR in the MLB with ~17 of that through his age 33. Matsui had a 7 year run in the NPB to Seiya Suzuki's 6, posted 4 1.000 OPS seasons in a row to Suzuki's 3, but also broke out later (22), came over the MLB significantly later (29)...The Cubs got Suzuki at a great time too outside of just being 27/: hitting 38 HRs with another .300+ IsoSLG last year should appease any models worried about a dip in power after 2018...Again not trying to be sensational at all but yeah, there's the shot at a 25+ WAR player here where OMC's Josh Donaldson mention doesn't seem so wild

 

That 185# listing on BbRef is obsolete, more like 205, maybe even 215 and a brickhouse...I also like how he played mostly SS and 3B until moving to the OF full time

 

Suzuki looks like a good solid ML player, but I think we ought to hold off on the Mike Trout comparisons for 2-3 years.

 

Word thanks, totally didn’t even think about that and don’t know what came over me

 

[cl smooth]

[UMFan83]

If he likes Mike Trout he's really going to love playing with..... umm Clint Frazier? Rafael Ortega?

[CyHawk_Cub]

If he likes Mike Trout he's really going to love playing with..... umm Clint Frazier? Rafael Ortega?

"But ownership is spending! Look at all the signings the past week! Someone new every day! Quit complaining!" -- Cubs fans of a certain ilk in a group chat I'm in

[Bertz]

[UMFan83]

[imb]

If he likes Mike Trout he's really going to love playing with..... umm Clint Frazier? Rafael Ortega?

 

hes so committed to the mike trout fandom he signed with a team with terrible teammates. love it

[UMFan83]

More very favorable analysis of Seiya:

 

https://community.fangraphs.com/how-does-seiya-suzuki-stack-up/

[OleMissCub]

More very favorable analysis of Seiya:

 

https://community.fangraphs.com/how-does-seiya-suzuki-stack-up/

 

[Bertz]

[UMFan83]

https://theathletic.com/3235669/2022/04/07/inside-the-recruiting-pitch-to-seiya-suzuki-virtual-reality-yu-darvishs-influence-and-a-vision-for-the-next-great-cubs-team/

 

Article about the Cubs recruitment of Suzuki

[Bertz]

 

I missed this on Friday, but that's very fast. You need more sample to build up a true average, but for reference 29.2 ft/s would have had him tied for 33rd in the league last year with Kevin Kiermaier

[sneakypower]

[cl smooth]