Sometimes it’s good to spend money.
Seiya Suzuki and Marcus Stroman showed that in the Cubs’ 5-4 loss Sunday to the Brewers. Combined, the Cubs shelled out more than $170 million to snag the two players to help them try to compete while refurbishing the organization.
Even though they squandered a chance to complete a season-opening sweep,the Cubs got strong returns on their offseason investments Sunday.
Suzuki, who joined the Cubs on a five-year, $85 million deal after leaving Japan’s Hiroshima Toyo Carp, hit a three-run home run in the opening inning off Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta for his first big-league homer. The Cubs also had to pay a $14.625 million posting fee to acquire the 27-year-old Suzuki, one of the most coveted position players to leave Japanese baseball for North America.
Stroman, 30, was inked right before the lockout to a three-year, $71 million contract. Making his Cubs debut Sunday, Stroman went five innings, allowing one run and two hits, with the only blemish coming on Willy Adames’ third-inning solo home run.
Stroman left with a 3-1 lead, but reliever Jesse Chavez surrendered a Christian Yelich run-scoring double and Rowdy Tellez’s two-run home run in the sixth to give the Brewers a 4-3 advantage. Thanks to two wild pitches from Milwaukee reliever Jake Cousins, the second bringing in Clint Frazier, the Cubs tied the game in the bottom of the sixth.
The Brewers went back ahead in the seventh on Mike Brosseau’s pinch-home run off the Cubs’ Daniel Norris. With two outs and Nico Hoerner on third, the Cubs had a chance to tie in the bottom of the inning, but Jonathan Villar dove into first after hitting a chopper to second and was narrowly out.
Before the game, Cubs manager David Ross said Stroman’s laid-back personality stands out. But at the same time, Ross mentioned Stroman’s preparation, work ethic and routine.
“I’m not going to compare the two, but when Jon [Lester], you first get around him and see they come into work and it’s work first and then I’m going to go into being kind of a teammate,” Ross said. “This guy comes in, gets his work done. He’s diligent about what he wants to do with his preparation and then he goes into being a teammate.”
The six-year, $155 million contract the Cubs gave Lester in December 2014 signaled the franchise was ready to compete after the Theo Epstein-led rebuild. And though Lester was gone by then, the era his deal kicked off ended during last summer’s firesale when the Cubs dealt away Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo.
Famously, the Cubs didn’t re-sign those core members of their 2016 champion, and are now attempting to construct their next contender.
