Japan's press is bracing for Seiya Suzuki to leave the Cubs

Three Japanese reports from the past month, all about Chicago's offseason, read like preparation for a goodbye. Seiya Suzuki's five-year, $85 million contract with the Cubs expires after this season, and none of the reports describes a deal in the works.

The first ran on Oct. 3, when Daily Sports published a Kyodo News dispatch from Chicago. Jed Hoyer said about 10 Cubs players are headed to free agency, including Suzuki and left-hander Shota Imanaga, and that re-signing all of them would be difficult. He said the team will put more weight on pitching than on hitters, and that the club will talk with Suzuki, Imanaga and the others.

SPREAD, a Japanese baseball site, went further the same week. It relayed the view of Patrick Mooney of The Athletic that Suzuki is likely to leave. By SPREAD's account, Suzuki ranked 19th in fWAR across the league in a season among the best of his career, which should make him a popular name on the market. Mooney thinks it is unlikely that the Cubs, short on pitching, will join the bidding, and even less likely that they win it. SPREAD's own numbers: 143 games, .270, 26 home runs, 86 RBIs, .841 OPS, and plus-5 outs above average in right field, second in the National League behind Arizona's Corbin Carroll. It also noted that Sports Illustrated's website had named Toronto as a possible landing spot.

The third report came on Oct. 20, from Kyodo News in the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun. The AP had reported a day earlier that this year's qualifying offer is $23.15 million, about 3.66 billion yen, up 5.1 percent. It is a one-year contract that a team can offer a departing player; if he turns it down and signs elsewhere, the old team receives a draft pick. Kyodo said the Cubs could make the offer to Suzuki, and noted that Imanaga accepted last year's and stayed.