Seiya Suzuki was one Chicago Cubs player in the rumor mill all off-season. The 30 year old was reportedly unhappy with being moved to more of a permanent designated hitter, despite having his fair share of defensive blunders over the past three seasons. This put him in several trade rumors, but ultimately he has stayed put.
While the Cubs and Suzuki reportedly reconciled the issue over the off-season, Suzuki wasted no time calling out manager Craig Counsell for a separate issue when meeting with the media as he reported for spring training.
Seiya Suzuki called out Craig Counsell for bad communication
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Through an interpreter, Suzuki talked about several topics with the media. One was his experience last year under first year Cubs manager Craig Counsell. Suzuki said that both sides could have had better communication, but they are improving upon that.
#Cubs Seiya Suzuki (through team interpreter Edwin Stanberry) talks about embracing his role as a DH, desire to continue playing the outfield, and how he felt there could’ve been better communication with manager Craig Counsell last season @WGNNews @MLBJapan @suzuki_seiya_sb pic.twitter.com/9EW8LTyOnZ
— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) February 14, 2025
Craig Counsell responded to Seiya Suzuki’s comments
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Counsell did respond to Suzuki’s comments regarding poor communication between the two. While Counsell took the majority of the blame, his reasoning for why this happened was quite poor as he indicated that the language barrier made him lazy.
A couple of Cubs notes: Matt Shaw, slated to play 3b, has been slowed by an oblique. Not serious right now.
Also, Craig Counsell blamed himself for some poor communication with Seiya Suzuki last season: “Sometimes the language barrier makes you lazy. That’s on me.”— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) February 14, 2025
What is Seiya Suzuki’s future on the Chicago Cubs?
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Suzuki has two years remaining on his five year contract with the Cubs. He is owed $38.0 million over this time frame and also has a full no-trade clause. While he may be willing to waive it, Chicago’s offensive lineup is much better with him in it.
Jed Hoyer made several additions to the team this off-season that are on one year deals, so this kind of all-in approach should mean that regardless of each sides feelings, Suzuki should remain a Cub throughout the 2025 season.
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1 Comment
screw that old Crapnal we don’t need him.