Cubs hope to re-sign Dexter Fowler, extend Jake Arrieta

Team president Theo Epstein said the Cubs plan to look into extensions for arbitration-eligible ace Jake Arrieta and free agent center fielder Dexter Fowler.

Both are long shots — at least until Fowler’s market plays out over the winter.

Fowler, 29, had career highs in home runs (17) and walks (84) during a season he made $9.5 million. The Cubs’ leadoff hitter was a big part of the Cubs’ offensive renaissance in the second half, including a .272 average and .389 on-base percentage (.852 OPS) after the All-Star break.

“Certainly, there’s an interest in sitting down at the appropriate time with Dexter and his agent, Casey Close, and seeing if there’s away to keep him as a Chicago Cub,” team president Theo Epstein said. “He had an unbelievable year. He fit in tremendously well in this organization.

“He made a great impact on the field and off and we love having him around.”

Insiders suggest the Cubs’ comfort zone for a contract is two years, but Fowler might command a bigger-ticket, possibly four-year deal.

The Cubs have mapped out alternatives to bridge the center field position for the year or two until they project prospects such as Albert Almora or Billy McKinney might be ready for a big-league job.

Free agent Denard Span, an elite clubhouse-culture guy who’s as defensively sound as any available outfielder, could be had for a necessarily shorter contract and probably less money than Fowler. Right fielder Jason Heyward, who was used in center late in the season — and once in the postseason — by St. Louis, is also a free agent but will command a hefty long-term deal.

Arrieta, who makes $3.63 million, is likely to at least triple that in his second winter of arbitration eligibility. The Cubs have club control through 2017 — after which he’s almost certain to depart as a free agent, assuming good health.

“I’m sure there will come a point in time where we’ll approach Jake and his agent, Scott Boras, to see if we can extend that window,” Epstein said. “We’d be foolish not to want to do that.”

The key words of that first sentence being “Scott Boras.”

Boras typically takes his top-end clients to free agency, and in a conversation in August compared Arrieta to Max Scherzer, the Cy Young Award winner who got a $210 million deal from the Nationals as a free agent last winter.

“More than anything we’re just appreciative of the person he is, the year he had and what, at the very least, the next two seasons look like in a Cub uniform for him,” Epstein said. “I hope it’s more.”