The Cubs avoided arbitration Friday with shortstop Javy Baez, third baseman Kris Bryant, catcher Willson Contreras and pitcher Zach Davies.
According to league sources, the team reached one-year contracts with all of them: Baez for $11.65 million, Bryant for $19.5 million, Contreras for $6.65 million and Davies for $8.63 million.
Baez and Bryant enter their final year of club control before becoming free agents. The Cubs already have made a few significant moves this offseason, trading ace Yu Darvish and non-tendering Kyle Schwarber, and could make a few more moves before the start of spring training. The team is still in the process of deciding which of their core players to keep for the long term.
“We have a team that just won the division, we have a lot of really good players and I think we’re very focused on the ’21 season,” president Jed Hoyer said earlier this offseason. “That said, obviously, if there are moves we can make that will help our future, then we have to look at those given the fact that we have a lot of players that are kind of close to the end of their arbitration years.”
Outfielder Ian Happ was the only arbitration-eligible player who didn’t come to terms on a deal by the noon deadline, likely meaning there will be an arbitration hearing. The sides still have until the hearing to come to an agreement.
The Cubs haven’t gone to arbitration with a player since reliever Justin Grimm in 2018; the Cubs won.
Happ, 26, was the team’s best offensive player last season, slashing .258/.361/.505 with a team-leading 12 home runs.
