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Seiya Suzuki shuts down swirling MLB rumors with one gesture

By Adam Weinrib|
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN - JULY 31: Seiya Suzuki #51 of Team Japan tosses his bat aside on his way to first base in the ninth inning against Team Mexico during the baseball opening round Group A game on day eight of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Yokohama Baseball Stadium on July 31, 2021 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN - JULY 31: Seiya Suzuki #51 of Team Japan tosses his bat aside on his way to first base in the ninth inning against Team Mexico during the baseball opening round Group A game on day eight of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Yokohama Baseball Stadium on July 31, 2021 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)

The New York Yankees are officially in the Seiya Suzuki bidding, according to Andrew Baggarly’s reporting with The Athletic (subscription required) that dropped on Thursday, confirming that the team registered an initial bid and was among the many Zoom suitors for the slugging 27-year-old.

Anything beyond that, though, we cannot tell you, considering Suzuki was remarkably tight-lipped in the attached interview about his free agency process.

And we do mean “remarkable.” The lips could not have been tighter.

Clearly, he learned his lesson from the Koji Uehara podcast appearance he made last week before entering the cutthroat world of long-form journalism.

In that interview, Uehara prodded Suzuki directly on the Boston Red Sox, attempting to get him to admit he was headed to join Chaim Bloom. Suzuki didn’t budge, laughing it off, but the intent was clear: it’s Boston, right?

After all, Suzuki had been heavily linked to the Sox before the Hunter Renfroe trade ushered in the MLB lockout and cleared a spot for him. Plus, there was that whole “Instagram follow and unfollow” thing earlier in the offseason.

Mum’s the word for Suzuki these days, though, which he made very obvious when Baggarly asked him about specific teams in the pool.

Yankees Rumors: Seiya Suzuki won’t “confess” to joining the Red Sox (or anyone)

So, what’s the verdict? Something or nothing that the Red Sox nonsense is the only nonsense we’re hearing these days?

Who’s to say? Clearly, the man himself is sick of being baited. So sick, in fact, that he’d rather just grab his lips and push them together.

For what it’s worth, Baggarly posited about 10 possibilities in the article, then added Billy Eppler’s Mets to the mix (after all, Eppler did sign Shohei Ohtani back in the day). Plus, he noted Suzuki also followed Trea Turner and Alex Bregman on Instagram this year, and idolizes Mike Trout, and basically … you can’t judge a book by its appearance on Koji Uehara’s podcast, basically.

Wherever Suzuki ends up, he seems likely to be very good, which explains the wide variety of suitors.

We understand if the Yankees don’t fall atop the list — after all, they swung and missed pretty hard on Ohtani and seem allergic to moving Joey Gallo over to center field, which could really infuse this outfield with an extra burst.

If anything, this tidbit just taught us more about Suzuki’s personality — as well as why he’s seemed so uncomfortable every time people try to make the Red Sox thing sound like a done deal.

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