One of the stranger rumors to pop up over the course of the offseason was the Chicago Cubs’ interest in catcher Kurt Suzuki. Well, I guess I mean it became strange, because it persisted even after the Cubs had picked up their backup catcher in George Kottaras.
Well, we can let it fall away, as today reports indicate Suzuki will be signing with the Minnesota Twins for $2.75 million plus incentives. As I wrote at the last turn of the rumor, getting Suzuki on a minor league deal would make sense for the Cubs, and would be a very nice snag. Clearly, Suzuki had plenty of a market to get a big league deal (and, indeed, maybe his agent floated a stale rumor about the Cubs’ interest in Suzuki to help push the Twins to add an incentive or two).
Paying nearly three million bucks for a third catcher wouldn’t have made much sense for the Cubs – and there are plenty of reasons to be nervous about Suzuki’s projected effectiveness, given his steep decline over the past two years.
In the end … whateves.