One of the most bizarre storylines of the ongoing lockout has been the frozen posting window for Seiya Suzuki. The star NPB outfielder was made available to big league clubs in November via the posting process, but he didn’t agree to a deal with an MLB team before the league implemented the lockout on December 2.
The league and union agreed to freeze the 30-day signing window for the duration of the work stoppage. With the lockout set to reach its three-month anniversary tomorrow, however, questions have intermittently popped up about how long Suzuki himself might want to wait. After all, he could simply choose to return to the Hiroshima Carp for the upcoming season and explore the possibility of making the move to MLB next winter.
Suzuki, though, remains intent on seeing the posting process through. Joel Wolfe, his representative at Wasserman, tells Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic that Suzuki’s thought process was unchanged by the league’s announcement that the first two series of the regular season have been cancelled (Twitter link). “Seiya is 100% committed to playing in MLB this year. He’s shown remarkable patience and resolve,” Wolfe told Baggarly.
That’s not a huge surprise, as Suzuki told Baggarly in mid-January he planned to wait things out. “I’m just going to wait until both sides agree,” Suzuki said at the time. “There’s no date I set on myself. In Japan, you don’t experience a lockout so it’s a first for me. At first, I was a little worried about it. But when you think about it, it’s going to end sometime soon. Just having that positive mindset that it will end sometime has allowed me to keep my head up.”
Still, those comments came before the latest uncertainty regarding the MLB labor situation. In the interim, NPB has begun its preseason schedule and opens its regular season on March 25. MLB, on the other hand, won’t begin playing meaningful games until at least the second week of April. More to the point, the league’s decision to cancel some regular season action only further complicates the labor situation and figures to make the ongoing lockout more difficult to resolve. Waiting things out is no doubt an unenviable situation for Suzuki, but it seems he’s committed to doing so in order to test his ability against big league competition.
Whenever he is allowed to negotiate with teams, the righty-hitting outfielder should have a robust market. At 27, he’s among the youngest players in free agency. Scouting reports generally suggest he could be a capable everyday right fielder at the MLB level. And Suzuki’s coming off an excellent season in NPB, hitting .317/.433/.639 with 38 home runs across 533 plate appearances. The Padres, Cubs, Giants, Mariners, Red Sox and Rangers are among the clubs that have been linked to Suzuki this offseason.
Good luck. I’d stay in Japan for 1 more year. At least they will play.
can he play for Hiroshima while still under the posting system?
I was hoping a number of star players would play in this season in foreign leagues instead of for the corrupt MLB.
If corruption is paying your absolute worst employee $600,000 a year…SIGN ME UP!
If my worst employee was in the top one-percent of performers in the world, sign me up!
Just an idiotic comment bluesteele
LOL! I love the comments from the haters. When opening day arrives, Fenway will be sold out, Suzuki becomes a hero in RF, and I’ll be stumbling around in some pub, pretending I am still young enough to catch all 15 games.
You can stay at home sticking needles in your MLB voodoo doll. Enjoy!
Hey MLB Trade Rumors writers, can you guys host a live chat for fans who have questions about the lockout so far? I feel there are a lot questions that fans have that could be answered by you guys.
They usually have one or two live chats a week
Even if they did hold that extra chat the writers would still answer five questions about the Mariners outfield, three more about if the A’s would take Pache + 3 40 FV guys for Olson, and respond to every serious question with a snarky simpsons gif
Maybe we haven’t been in the same chats but the Mariners outfield never gets love. Meanwhile, every other question is a Jo Adell trade proposal..
I was thinking more of a chat centered around just Lockout-related questions. That, or write an article about the most frequently asked questions about the lockout and give an answer to it. Personally, I haven’t followed the lockout step-by-step, or have read through all of the offers/counter offers made by the MLBPA and owners. There are still things I don’t understand about the whole lockout.
@mlb1225,
I joined the “front office” subscription that MLBTR offers and I think it’s great (except there’s so little content right now due to the *^+## lockout). That said, they hold a once-per-week subscriber-only chat and one’s questions are WAY more likely to get answered than in the regular chats open to everyone. In the subscriber chats, there’s been a ton of Q & A about the lockout. (And no, I have connection to MLBTR other than being a longtime user/fan).
Props for still wanting to play in America even after the disgraceful show the MLB and players have put on. Just goes to show there is still some American dream out there… the good times ain’t over for good
He should come play in SF or LA if he really wants to be let down by the current state of America
I guarantee you’ve been to neither city in your lifetime.
Lol I live in California I’ve been to both cities dozens of times sf has turned into complete garbage. At least LA is big
Roast – Seiya Suzuki should play in SF or LA, so he can pay 13.3 percent state income tax in addition to fed tax, more than double gas tax, some of the longest commute times in the US, and can have his kids wear masks to school or if not vaccinated mandatory stay home if exposed, even if test negative to Covid. Wow, what a great state I live in ( moving in 17 months). Yay
maybe it is a great concern for you making $7.oo an hour plus some crumbs.
I personally know of MLB players who have not signed in CA for those reasons, so do not say it is not an issue. As an investment advisor the average person works about 7 years longer in CA. Only a stupid person does not consider cost of living when choosing a place to live. The vast majority of players who make the MLB are those who play a hand full of game to a few years and make the league, and for them money IS an issue.
By the way $7.00 an hour…..what rock have you been living under?
fed minimum wage is $7.00 plus some crumbs.
when i pay more taxes i know i get to live in a better place. personal bankruptcies by state.
statista.com/statistics/303570/us-personal-bankrup…
wow, $24.00! my son is making $140,000 plus stock options. and he just turned 28!
when my son was 16 he tutored seniors in his classes allowing them to go to great colleges. when he graduated most of them came and congratulated him. he was also a police explorer and had so much time as a senior since he finished all of his ap classes as a junior and accrued 200 plus hours volunteering. he was also a captain of a track and field team.
CA costs more the way a Ferrari costs more than a Pinto.
CA is nice. WV (for one example) is an utter S hole.
If it weren’t expensive to live there, 100 million people would move there.
CA on it’s own is the 5th largest economy in the world.
Finally, CA is a net payer to the federal govt unlike most red states, which mooch off of states like NY and CA.
Even the red state jewel TX takes more in federal dollars than it puts in. The most successful red state is still on welfare. And CA foots the bill.
Lockout has gone so long, people are on here bragging about their sons…
The Baseball Fan (Doesn’t like the Cubs)
………….a even after the disgraceful show the MLB and players have put on.
=====================================
What disgraceful show? Have you never argued about money? Or negotiated the purchase of a car or house, or anything else? My old roommate worked for the telephone company and religiously went on strike every other August. He and some of his co-workers used to rent a house in the Hamptons and take turns coming in to picket.
Both sides are allowed to argue over money. I do, and I’d bet most people in here do as well.
Sure Jan
Why is this considered “bizarre?” Seems like a straight up situation to me.
“ But when you think about it, it’s going to end sometime soon.”
Well, it’s going to end. Soon? Slow down.
Waiting to be a Ranger.
“Seiya is 100% committed to playing in MLB this year.”
He’s the only one.
Lol. Right? It would be nice if MLB was on the same page so he didn’t have to play all nine positions plus hit during the game.
Well, MLB is not 100% committed to playing this year so I’d say stay in Japan and play there. MLB is a mess right now.
I wonder if there’s any chance he would choose Boston?
I’d give it about a 1/29 chance. I’d say 1/30, but Colorado? Really? He’s not going there.
1/28 No Chance as a Pirates fan lol
Yes.
In order to sign Suzuki, a team needs a hole in RF, money, and no competing needs. The RS have 2 of the 3. Being, maybe not desperate, but a great fit in RF, puts the RS in good shape.
When you have teams where Suzuki is merely an upgrade to RF, they won’t go over the top.
You don’t think the RS have all 3? I’m not sure if there’s any bigger need on the roster besides maybe a closer.
That what I was thinking. BP or closer. If they don’t land Suzuki, which I’d prefer, they can play JBJ in RF, Kiki in CF, and could sign someone like Story for 2B.
FWIW, I almost made it a 3-category need, but I think we could do without Suzuki, But I still want him bad.
Contender’s with an immediate opening in RF, I only see Boston.
He’s 100% more committed than MLB at the moment…
Right next to the pesky pole