Cubs avoid arbitration with Javy Baez, Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, more |
The Chicago Cubs have avoided arbitration with several of their stars signing Javy Baez, Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, and right-hander Zach Davies to one-year contracts.
Bryant settled for $19.5 million for the 2021 season (last year of his contract), a $900K increase from last year. He had a career-worst year in 2020, hitting only .206 with four homers and 11 RBIs in 34 games. Baez agreed to $11.65 million for the upcoming campaign (last year of his contract), a $1.65 million raise from 2020. 'El Mago hit only .203 with 8 homers and 24 RBIs in 34 games last season. Contreras signed for $6.65 million (two years left with Cubs on contract), a big $2.15 million jump from last season. In 2020, he hit .243 with seven homers and 26 RBIs in 57 games. New pitcher Davies settled for $8.63 million in his contract's final year, a hefty $3.38 million increase from last season. He had an impressive 2.73 ERA and 1.07 WHIP last season with the San Diego Padres. Ian Happ and the Cubs were not able to agree to a deal before arbitration as he made 603K last year. He is entering his first season of arbitration eligibility and MLB Trade Rumors has his projected salary range between $2.5 million and $4.6 million. This will be somewhat historic as only former Cubs players Ryan Theriot (2010) and Justin Grimm (2018) have gone through arbitration with the Cubs in the last 27 years. The Cubs have not officially announced any of these signings yet.
