Willson Contreras feels ‘more secure’ he won’t be traded by Cubs as spring training opens

MESA, Ariz. — This time, the trade rumors hit harder.

“It might hurt,” All-Star catcher Willson Contreras said Monday between unofficial workouts, a day before Cubs pitchers and catchers officially report for spring training. “But it’s part of the business.”

It has been a conspicuous part of the Cubs’ business since their 84-win season in 2019 ended with them missing the playoffs for the first time in five years. Talk persists even as the Cubs have yet to trade third baseman Kris Bryant, outfielder Kyle Schwarber, Contreras or anyone else linked to rumors over the winter.

Team president Theo Epstein said the day after the season ended that big changes were coming throughout the organization, including an openness to consider trading core players.

“Now that [I’m] here,” Contreras said of arriving in Arizona, “I feel more secure to my team. I feel like now I’m going to be starting the season with my team, even though if I get traded — who knows? But I don’t have my mind into trade rumors. I have my mind into my pitchers, into my team, and I want to make them better.”

That doesn’t mean a big trade can’t still happen. Bryant talks have picked up since he lost his grievance last month alleging the Cubs manipulated his service time.

A trade now seems less likely than something happening at the summer trade deadline or next winter. But the trade questions swirling around Bryant — and others the Cubs have fielded calls about — won’t go away just because camps have opened across Florida and Arizona.

Contreras — whose name popped up almost as soon as Epstein said publicly the Cubs were open-minded about the core — won’t let it be a distraction. It certainly will be a question dogging players in camp until or unless this team with budget concerns pulls off a deal.

Contreras caused a social media stir in November when he changed his Twitter profile picture to one of him in his All-Star uniform, coinciding with the first round of rumors. A few days later, as his name became more prominent in speculation, he tweeted a simple smiley-face emoji.

“It didn’t mean anything,” he said.

“This past winter, the trade rumors were more consistent than the year before, and I was aware of it. I was trying to not pay attention to it, but it was impossible. Every time I was on social media, a new article was coming out about me being traded. Now that I’m here, I feel blessed once again. I’m happy to be here. I love this organization and my teammates. I’m really excited to have another great 2020 season with all my team.”

Contreras’ inclusion in trade talks is more about sheer value and potential return than, in Bryant’s case, the bonus of shedding a big contract or a belief that a contract extension can’t eventually be negotiated. Contreras has three more seasons of club control, one more than Bryant. And while he hasn’t been approached this winter about an extension, he said Monday he’s “always going to be open about talking to the Cubs about an extension.”

“My agent and I talk a lot about it,” he said. “We just have to wait for the right time to talk about it.”

When might that be?

“Maybe after the season. Who knows?” Contreras said. “It might be midseason . . . .”

For now, the National League’s starting catcher the last two All-Star Games has two things on his mind: avoiding the kind of hamstring injuries that have sidelined him for long stretches, and getting back to the playoffs.

Not that the Cubs have improved the roster — at least on paper — since last season.

“We still can get to the playoffs, for sure,” Contreras said. “We know we didn’t add two huge, or three huge, names to the bullpen. That doesn’t mean we cannot get to the playoffs; that doesn’t mean we cannot win the division.”

Barring any sudden roster changes.

“I’ve been here for 11 years now,” said Contreras, the Cubs’ most tenured player (signed at age 17 in 2009). “I feel blessed to be here. And even if I get traded, I will always love the Cubs.”