Chicago Cubs facing Phillies grab for prized free agent star

As the Chicago Cubs continue to move towards a playoff run, it’s looking more and more likely that they could meet National League Wild Card rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, at some point in the playoffs.

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But they could also be in competition with the Phillies after the postseason as well.

Philadelphia could be an aggressive suitor for Cubs free agent outfielder Seiya Suzuki.

The 32-year-old right fielder will be eligible for free agency at the end of this season and he’ll be looking for a deal considerably larger than the 5-year, $85 million contract given to him by the Cubs when he first broke into the majors in 2022.

Suzuki will be highly desired

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In a weaker free agent market—and in the shadows of a looming labor dispute that could kill off a good chunk of the coming season—the Japanese star could find himself near the top of the list of attractive free agent position player buys.

For the Phillies, especially, the appeal of adding an established right-hand bat to their lefty-dominated lineup may nudge them towards spending in excess of Suzuki’s projected 4-year, $100 million asking price.

Brandon Glick of TBOH, a Phillies blog, recently laid out the case for Philadelphia grabbing Suzuki:

“Over the past four seasons, he’s hit .272/.353/.485 with a 131 wRC+, good for 13.3 fWAR. By that last metric, Suzuki has been the 12th-best outfielder in all of baseball in that span, only trailing a ridiculous list of names that includes Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Pete-Crow Armstrong, and other modern luminaries.

For good measure, he’s also suddenly morphed into a Gold Glove contender this year, providing the Cubs with +8 Fielding Run Value and +14 Defensive Runs Saved from right field. Add on the fact that he historically crushes left-handed pitching — his career wRC+ against southpaws is 139 — and is hitting .305/.359/.407 in 14 career games at Citizens Bank Park, and he basically looks like the perfect fit for the Phillies this offseason.

…He would immediately slot between Schwarber, Harper, and Trea Turner atop the lineup, finally giving the team the right-handed slugger they’ve spent years searching for.”

Putting the Cubs in a tough spot

An aggressive Phillies grab at Suzuki will put the Cubs in a tough position.

Chicago is already facing a dilemma with their two corner outfielders—Suzuki and left fielder Ian Happ—hitting the free agent market. Replacing both, whether in-house or from the outside, would be tough, so the general consensus is that they’ll work to re-sign one of their potentially outbound outfielders. Most assume that they’d choose Suzuki over Happ if they could only re-sign one.

But keeping Suzuki will cost them dearly, especially if the free-spending Phillies are aggressively pursuing him. It’s very likely that the Cubs could lose out on Suzuki in a long, drawn-out bidding war and also lose out on Happ as he signs elsewhere while the battle for Suzuki rages.

Then, Chicago would be in a truly tough spot, having to rely on Matt Shaw in left and Kevin Alcantara in right as their 2027 every day corner outfielders.

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