The Cubs have agreed to a $12.9MM contract with star third baseman Kris Bryant, ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers tweets. Also agreeing to terms, at $5.2MM, was star infielder Javier Baez, as Jon Heyman of Fancred was first to tweet.
Rather more controversially, the club also has reached a salary with suspended shortstop Addison Russell, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). The Cubs have stuck with Russell even as immensely troubling allegations have emerged regarding his alleged abuse of his former wife. His reported deal includes a $3.4MM salary and up to $600K in potential incentive pay tied to the number of days Russell spends on the active roster.
Bryant checks in right near his projected amount of $12.4MM. Baez, however, came in well shy of the number that the MLBTR/Matt Swartz projection system had suggested ($7.1MM).
Russell, meanwhile, had projected at $4.3MM, but his situation was certainly not typical. After ending the 2018 season on the restricted list due to a suspension for violation of the league’s domestic violence policy, he’ll remain sidelined for about the first month of the season to come. Russell will not be paid during that time.
Earlier today, the Cubs agreed to terms with their four other arb-eligible players.
I still fear KB will enter FA eventually and never entertain a Cubs offer.
He won’t, which is why they should trade him for a haul while they can. Package him with Heyward to save some money.
That would be great
I was hoping they would trade him last year
To the Mets
He’s a whiner
Thats idiotic
you can’t say trade him for a haul and package him with hayward in the same sentence man that contract is bad
He’s been trouble since day one when the jays drafted him.. sure wish we had him though :/
You shouldn’t fear this, you should expect it. Players are sick of teams that manipulate service time and the union is asking players to penalize teams that do to their detriment. Bryant will not resign with the Cubs. He’s a union guy.
Every team does it, so they will be sick of every team, and not sign with anyone?
There’s only been four obvious examples, like Bryants, that the union is preparing an NLRB case against. Depending on the Eloy Jimenez callup, that number will be five.
And they will lose. What’s next, mandatory call ups?
Bryant held out until the last minute to sign after being drafted to milk the Cubs for every dime he could get
Him holding a grudge when they played the system back would be hypocrisy, frankly.
I think he understands business is business, and when it comes to free agency he’ll be all business
Which means listening to anyone willing to pay him
Wannabe where they’re going to lose this case is that it’s explicit in the contract that promotions cannot be deferred on the basis of service time. It will be hard for MLB to prove all of these players “suddenly” become ready the very first day they lose service time.
Actually, many teams do not. Pretty clear divide.
I don’t see him taking a paycut to play elsewhere if the Cubs offer him the most money. I don’t see him taking a discount to sign with the Cubs either tho.
I think most real Cubs fans are not that attached to Bryant. In terms of popularity he is below Rizzo, Baez, Schwarber, and Contreras. Trading him now would be the smart thing to do. Hell, Just ship him to the Mets for Thor. Cubs then trade Quintana and whoever to the Yanks who need another arm for an infielder- which the Yankees have way too many at the moment
agree with the Bryant part
I think you don’t know enough Cubs fans to make statements about this topic if this is your conclusion…
Last year when Bryant struggled, I actually saw Cub fans lighting up Facebook saying they would rather keep Bote at 3B and trade Bryant. David Bote! That’s how little the fans care about the former MVP. By the way, I am a lifelong baseball fan, and diehard Cub fan and I like Contreras a lot more than the worst clutch hitter they have in Bryant. Look at his numbers with the bases loaded for crying out loud. Not to mention the guy has zero personality, even Heyward is more likeable. Not hatin, just speaking the truth that the fans wouldn’t be that upset.
Assuming the idiot wing of the fanbase is ‘most’ is a very dangerous assumption to make. And judging anything by what you see on Facebook is laughably naive.
The sheer fact that they thought Bote was better means their baseball knowledge is suspect at best
So people that post on here are more credible? That comment is even more laughable. Come one petrie, you stepped right into that one
No, people who post intelligent things are credible. People who post dumb things repeatedly are just trying to make their opinion look popular by sheer volume.
Judge what’s said on it’s merits, not it’s popularity. This is the internet, where the ignorant minority come to avoid reality en masse
I disagree megaj. I am usually on board with most of your comments, but any cubs fan that doesn’t see Bryant as a huge part of the future isn’t much of a fan. Rookie of the year, MVP, what more do you expect? Yeah he needs to do better with runners in scoring position, but if you have an OBP of .400 or higher like he does you are an elite bat that definitely is appreciated, and would sorely be missed by any true Cubs fan.
If true, which it’s not, the fact that you’d even put Contreras on that list tells everybody all they need to know about these “real Cubs fans.”
Priggs- It’s not true? Says who? I am not the only one saying it, scroll the comments every day people say this.. He is getting the respect and money of an elite power hitter when he pulls more singles to LF than anyone else and stinks with runners in scoring position when it matters most. He seems like a great guy with a million dollar smile, I just don’t think it was worth 12 million.
I agree with all but Schwarber! He needs to be gone to the American League before his value is down to nothing!
Dumb. Just dumb.
F***, you stupid
KB will hit free agency because he’s a Boras client. He seems to love Chicago and they will return that love when free agency hits. They’ll have an excellent opportunity to re sign him, but yes, Boras is very good at what he does. Unless it’s a crazy offer, no reason for him to advise his client not to at least test free agency when eligible.
Boras is not good at what he does. Hes a leach and manipulates his clients to leave. I cant see Bryant leaving.
Boras isn’t good at what he does
He’s flippin’ great at what he does. If he wasn’t, he would have nearly as many high profile clients as he does.
Theyll extend him the year before or year of free agency. They havent ever made any offer. Hell get at least 275mil from the Cubs. Rizzo will be extended soon as well.
Lotto numbers please
Scott Boras does not extend contracts during arbitration. There is zero chance of that happening.
The Cubs DID approach Bryant asking about a potential extension. They were told he would not sign anything before free agency.
He was never offered or approached with any such deal.
Lying piece of crap
It was a rumor that was shot down immediately. Nothing was ever reported.
Not if Harper signs.
Harper isnt going to the Cubs. 1st they dont need him. Signing him doesnt hinder or stop Bryant and rizzo getting extensions they deserve
By spring training next year Cubs will have their own network. Theyll have 5x the money they have now and the Ricketts have a lot of it already.
At the time his ascension was delayed it was quite controversial. Now that practice is just business as usual. The Cubs have given him record breaking arbitration money.
It was business as usual before they did it with Bryant. The only reason anyone was talking about it was because Scott Boras threw a very public temper tantrum over it.
You forgot about Carl Edwards, Jr.
He was arbitration eligible and settled for $1.5 mil. That makes 7 players from the Cubs, and you only listed 6 players.
Carl Edwards Jr settled for $1.5 mil.
He was the 7th and last Cubs player to avoid arbitration, following Schwarber, Baez, Bryant, Montgomery, Hendricks and Russell
Sorry. App was being weird and it looked like my comment never appeared. That’s why I mentioned it twice
what did schebler get? free passes to a batting cage?
I think most real Cubs fans are not that attached to Bryant. In terms of popularity he is below Rizzo, Baez, Schwarber, and Contreras. Trading him now would be the smart thing to do. Hell, Just ship him to the Mets for Thor. Cubs then trade Quintana and whoever to the Yanks who need another arm for an infielder- which the Yankees have way too many at the moment. How satisfying would it be for Cubs fans to get Torres back? I can’t believe that Epstein is not thinking along these lines, it just makes way too much sense NOT to do this!
Beyond dumb. Trade a hitter for an oft-injured pitcher. Sure, in MLB the Show perhaps.
Baez should have gotten more. In the million range.
I think beaz at that salary is a steal
Gee, ya think so? It’s also weird how tons of other comments got taken down off this thread. How does Bryant get 10.8 mil in his ARB1 year but Baez only got 5.2mil? Baez put up comparable if not better numbers in a few categories compared to Bryant.
We remove comments when things get out of hand. It doesn’t seem possible for people to discuss the Russell situation in a reasonable and respectful manner, and I don’t want to be picking and choosing what comments get removed, so I removed all of them.
My comments were very respectful and thought out. I had ongoing dialogue with fellow peers that you so swiftly deleted. One of the things that make this forum so great is the uncensored comments. Hundreds of different thoughts and opinions coming together to yeah sometimes make heated debates. This is America I will not be censored.
This is a privately owned website that gets to decided what content to allow or disallow as they like
It’s only censorship if the government does it, anybody else is just asking you to take it elsewhere
There wasn’t anything wrong with my comments. People are too soft anymore, this country was built with debates. No need for censoring.
There’s websites not dedicated to baseball rumors for just such things if you have a pressing need for debating topics besides baseball rumors
“Censoring” would be editing/removing comments to prefer one opinion over another. I wouldn’t do that. Nobody accused you, specifically, of doing anything at all. But it’s nearly impossible to carve out portions of a lengthy discussion on a topic of this sort in a fair (or time-efficient) manner.
I’m always up for a debate, civil or otherwise. But that doesn’t mean MLBTR has to host it.
This debate is “getting out of hand.” We better delete it.
Hmm this comment section is smaller
Is it just me or is anyone else wondering why Baez agreed to a contract almost $2M less than projected!?
Yes we all enjoy the hard work they do here to come up with projected arbitration salaries, but this site has nothing to do with MLB players and their salaries. Do you really think Baez and his agent consult Schwartz before they submit their salary request? Check out the definition of “projection” while you’re at it.
You aren’t wrong — though I wonder whether the model is successful enough that it could influence the process in some cases — but regardless, it is actually an interesting question to pose. Why would Baez or any other player go way over or under the projection? The formula is pretty accurate, after all.
It’s hardly infallible, of course. Specific comps matter. The model hasn’t seen every situation. Even if it had, every negotiation is unique. That’s why Matt does the breakdown posts on some specific guys every year. The model can’t account for everything or it would stop being a useful model.
There are also things that can go on behind the scenes. Harper’s big arb salary a few years back was an interesting one, as was Abreu’s stunningly low salary. My own assumption is that, in both cases, the negotiation wasn’t just over what an arb panel might award based on comps, etc. Rather, the sides were going back and forth based upon their history with one another and future expectations, and landed on something that really doesn’t fit in any formulaic sense.
So … what’s the case with Baez? Maybe the model just overshot on him. But he did go 30+ HR/100+ RBI and net a 2nd place MVP finish last year. Might be interesting to take a close look at this one after the fact. We’ll consider it.
Maybe he’s just a team player and realizes that the less money he takes the more the team can do in acquiring other pieces.
Ricketts has pulled the brakes on Theo and I don’t blame him. Too many bad contracts are starting to pile up. Heyward, Chatwood, Morrow, and Darvish. That’s close to 70 million for these players paid out just last season the return isn’t there. I love Theo, but it is his fault the Cubs are handcuffed this offseason. It will be interesting to see what happens when we stay stagnant this offseason, and they finish second or third in the division this year. Everybody else in the division is getting better, this wasn’t the year to slow down.
The Cubs were a 95 win team last season and haven’t lost anyone significant from that group.
No Chili Davis and a healthy Kris Bryant should be enough to fix their hitting problems from late last season, so the Cubs didn’t have to do anything major this off season.
Not spending crazily when you know you have a lot of extensions to give out in the near future is not the dumbest thing the team could do right now.
They just need ottavino or someone close to him. Kimbrel is too expensive even though he’ll never get a 100mil dollar deal over 6 or 7 years. He’ll “settle” for 4 years/65 mil
Only morrow and chatwood were bad contracts. Darvish was hurt. Chatwood and morrow were just bad and then they got hurt. I dont get why they just didnt option chatwood to triple A. It would help him with his mechanics..
Jason Haywards contract is the 14th richest contract in MLB history…, and your not classifying that as a bad contract? They can’t option Chatwood he has too much service time he would have to agree to go down which he won’t.
Morrow wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. The only way you could consider his contract bad is because of the injury, but when we was on the field he was earning it completely.
Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Mike Montgomery, Victor Caratini, and Jason Heyward for Corey Kluber, Jason Kipnis, and Carlos Santana.
I don’t think there’s any way that deal makes sense. Santana would have nowhere to play, Kipnis isn’t near the player he used to be, and with Lester/Hendricks/Quintana/Darvish/Hamels the rotation is set. Meanwhile it would leave a hole at third as Bote shouldn’t be everyday, an outfield of Zobrist, Almora, and Happ which without Schwarber and Heyward is simply weaker, and at this point take away the top lefty in the pen in Montgomery.