Chicago Cubs signs Japanese star Seiya Suzuki to 5-yr $85 million. Largest contract to an Asian position player ever.

On the first official day of Spring Training, Cubs manager David Ross made a point to note that the group out on the practice diamond did not represent a finished product. Up on the second floor of the complex, the front office was searching for impact players.

Those words came to fruition Friday, when the Cubs officially announced the signing of Japanese slugger Seiya Suzuki to a five-year contract. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported that the deal was worth $85 million.

“I’m super excited,” Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks said. “I’ve just seen some video and heard some things on him. I haven’t seen a whole lot. But obviously, I’ll be very excited to see that up close and personal.”

The contract with Suzuki includes a posting fee due to his former club in Japan, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. That cost ($14.625 million) brings the deal to $99.625 million, making it the largest deal given to a Japanese position player in history and the fifth-largest contract ever handed out by the Cubs.

A Chicago contingent, which included team chairman Tom Ricketts, met with Suzuki’s camp Monday. That followed reports of Suzuki working out in San Diego for the Padres and having dinner with Yu Darvish and his family. Darvish, of course, could also have shared his experience of playing for the Cubs.

“Where we are right now is not where we’re going and where we want to be,” Ross said at the outset of camp. “There’s still some pieces that the front office wants to continue to add and find the right fit for us and, ‘What is a Chicago Cubs baseball player?’ I think we’re going to be an exciting group.”

Suzuki is now officially part of that vision.

At 27 years old, Suzuki is in prime years for production for a Cubs team that hopes to move on from last summer’s 91-loss, Trade Deadline-impacted season. The length of his contract also locks him in for a period in which some of the Cubs’ highly-touted prospects begin reaching the Majors.

Suzuki is a five-time NPB All-Star who had a .317/.433/.636 slash line last season with 38 homers, 26 doubles, 88 RBIs and nearly as many walks (88) as strikeouts (89).

Across the 2018-21 seasons in Japan, Suzuki had 122 homers and 351 walks vs. 359 strikeouts in 517 games. He showed off his speed in 2019 with 25 stolen bases and took home MVP honors at the WBSC Premier12 tournament that same year.