Seiya Suzuki's five-year Cubs contract ends after the 2026 season

Seiya Suzuki, an outfielder who starred for the Hiroshima Carp in Japan's NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball), joined the Chicago Cubs in March 2022. He signed a five-year contract reported at about $85 million, one of the larger deals given to a Japanese position player at the time.

The agreement covered the 2022 through 2026 seasons. That meant the 2026 campaign was the last year of his guaranteed commitment, and the Cubs would need to decide his future once it ended. Players whose contracts expire become free agents and can negotiate with any club.

The timing set up a key winter decision. Under Major League Baseball rules, a team can make an expiring-contract player a qualifying offer, a one-year deal at a set average salary. The player can accept it or decline and test the market. If he declines and signs elsewhere, the former club can receive draft pick compensation. For Suzuki, the end of the contract made the Cubs' choice on a qualifying offer a central question of the 2026 offseason.