Japanese Superstar Seiya Suzuki "Can't Stop Thinking About" Which MLB Team To Choose

These are nervous days (and nights) for Japanese superstar Seiya Suzuki. He's anxious for the baseball lockout to end so that he can begin his major league journey. But as for where that journey will begin?

I can’t stop thinking about which team to pick. I’m going to be honest with you: I’m still very confused. I can’t sleep every night because a lot of the teams hit my heart. I still have to give it a lot of thought.

Suzuki just can't decide right now, as there are so many strong choices, in his mind. He is being tight-lipped about which teams are on his list, however.

Pandemic, lockout and all, Seiya Suzuki says he is still committed to coming to MLB next season. He revealed plenty of personality in our exclusive interview. But when I tried to pin down his short list of teams? His response required no translation. https://t.co/nlrXaLO6zF… pic.twitter.com/1K8HNpUeXk
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) January 13, 2022

As reported by Andrew Baggarly in The Athletic, in his first interview with an American reporter, Suzuki isn't naming names at this point.

The calls from MLB teams started to come in minutes after he was officially posted by his Japanese club, according to Baggarly, and with the lockout looming, he scheduled two teams a day so he could speak to as many as possible before business ground to a halt.

The 30-day window to negotiate with him is on hold now until the MLB and its teams sign a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and transactions can be resumed. There are 20 days left for him to decide.

His dream to come to the major leagues began in 2015 when former Los Angeles Dodger Hiroki Kuroda returned home to Japan and showed Suzuki a video of a guy in the majors named Mike Trout. He was amazed.

“I was fascinated with how many better players there are in the States,” Suzuki said. “That motivated me to play harder and get better so I could play with them someday.”

The 27-year-old has led the Hiroshima Carp to back-to-back Japan Series appearances, batting .319 in 2021 with 38 home runs and 1.080 OPS. He won his 5th Gold Glove in right field, and is in his prime as he gets set to take his talents to America (or Canada?).