MARCH 31: President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said the Cubs are still “very confident” they will extend Rizzo, Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. The Cubs are willing to continue discussions into the season, but it’s unclear whether Rizzo will adjust his Opening Day deadline.
MARCH 29, 7:10pm: The Cubs made Rizzo a five-year, $70MM extension offer, Mooney and Ken Rosenthal report. It was a front-loaded proposal with escalators that could have kicked in toward the back end of the deal.
11:35am: Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo told reporters today that extension talks with the team have stalled and a new deal now looks unlikely (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney). The slugger added that after speaking with his family and his representatives, he feels strongly about his previously set Opening Day deadline and has told his agents to stop talking to him about a contract (Twitter link via ESPN’s Jesse Rogers). Rizzo is “at peace” with the lack of a new contract and plans to shift his focus to the 2021 season.
Rizzo is one of three prominent members of the Cubs’ 2016 World Series roster that is currently slated to hit the open market after the season. The others, Javier Baez and Kris Bryant, have also been considered potential extension candidates. However, Rizzo was seen as perhaps the likeliest of the trio to sign, given his lengthier tenure with the club, his age and his expected price relative to those younger teammates.
Lining up on a new contract was likely difficult for myriad reasons, though. Rizzo has already signed what proved to be a very beneficial deal for the Cubs once in his career. That contract, a seven-year, $41MM extension inked in May 2013, ultimately wound up spanning nine years and paying Rizzo $75MM after a pair of club options were picked up and after he triggered some escalators based on a trio of fourth-place finishes in MVP voting. Having already taken what now looks to be a discount once, he may not have been as keen on doing so a second time.
It’s also tough to project Rizzo moving forward after he turned in one of his worst career showings at the plate in last year’s 60-game sprint. Rizzo appeared in 58 games for the Cubs and tallied 243 trips to the plate, but he batted just .222/.342/.414 along the way. His strikeout and walk rates remained strong, but that output obviously pales in comparison to the hearty .276/.379/.499 slash he logged from 2013-19. The Cubs likely have at least some trepidation as a result of last year’s downturn — particularly since Rizzo will turn 32 this August.
The lack of a deal this spring doesn’t guarantee that Rizzo will be playing elsewhere after the 2021 season. It remains possible that the Cubs could come back to the table with a late offer that is more in line with the 31-year-old’s asking price to this point, just as it’s possible that he could play out the ’21 season, reach free agency and ultimately still opt to re-sign with the Cubs. Owner Tom Ricketts has been quite averse to long-term spending over the past three offseasons, but at least on the surface, Rizzo would seem like a possible exception due to his nine-year tenure as a Cub, his role as a team leader and the role he played in the franchise’s curse-breaking championship run.
Ugh. Yuck. Get it done, Jed.
I wonder what he wanted. If he’s looking at what Goldy and Freddie are getting, it’s too much.
Well, if 5/70 was the Cubs’ offer, I can see why Anthony cut off talks.
Yeah really 14 mil AAV? I thought Ricketts was cheap but not that cheap. Salvador Perez as a catcher in Kansas City got more than that. Cause I know everyone will say it’s 70 mil blah blah blah. He would not be compensated fairly to his counterparts!
That’s actually more than what he’s worth moving forward. Dodgers are getting so much production from Chris Taylor, Kike Hernández, and paying much much less.
A more than generous offer. Not sure why they offered Rizzo before the other two but okay. A take it or leave it offer.
Hernandez is no longer a Dodger. A better comparison would be Justin Turner another aging corner infielder with some pop and clutch hitting ability. Rizzo probably thinking 5/90. Cubs better off waiting to see how this year plays out.
Ugh Cub fans again. Kike is not with Dodgers anymore and Chris Taylor is a nice little utility guy but not someone to compare to Rizzo. Turner is closer comparison but he’s like 5 years older & not as good a defender as Rizzo. Geez!
Give him 18-20 mill a year, he’s the face of your franchise, don’t low ball him. The Cubs are about to be Chicago’s #2 baseball team very shortly. Don’t screw him and the fans of the Cubs by low balling him.
The cubs will never be Chicago’s #2baseball team. The white sox can win 5 out of the next world series and they still wouldn’t be #1 or even 3 or 4. The Blackhawks and bears are ahead of them. They’re between the bulls and the fire.
Freeman should be getting 220mil
Rizzo should get minimum 110mil over 5 years. 70mil over 5 years is slap to face and kick to the nuts at the same time
As a Braves fan I do not see Freddie ever getting $220mm at this stage of his career. I’m not even sure what that would look like. 8 years/ $27.5mm? That’s insane.
Rizzo should ask Jake Arrieta how not giving the Cubs a home town discount three years ago worked out . Oh, yes that’s right he ended up coming back with hat in hand. BTW the market is weaker for 1b than other positions. Anthony should settle for 5/75. I’ll bet he wants 5/90
BTW- Rizzo is the modern day Mr Cub. There might be a lot of future benefits signing for five years and then retire in a Cubs uni.
RJNarvick – Arrieta got 3/$75 from Philly. Hat in hand? Really?
I love cubs fans lol
I really don’t think the Cubs are too far off-base with Rizzo’s offer to be completely honest. I mean it is low, and at first you would think it’s egregiously low but it’s not. With the qualitfying offer, Rizzo’s market I think it’s going to be about 5 years 87 million.
I believe Rizzo should be in the 85-90 million range. If (when) he gets saddled with the Qualifying Offer, with a pretty solid cast of free agents and another season of teams with lower than expected revenue 17.5 AAV will be about right, twenty million if he’s lucky.
Home town discount? Rizzo isn’t from chicago, the cubs didn’t draft rizzo.
He’s gonna get a lot 190 migjt bs more realistic. He’s about 13 months younger than Rizzo he’s coming an mvp season. Even as a cubs fan. I love that short swing he had. He generates a ton of power. If I was a betting man I’d make a bet he’d be mvp this year too.
Obviously I want the cubs to win the world series. Don’t think they will but again if I made bets. I’d bet the Braves win the pennant and beat the Yankees. Payback for ’96 and ’99
Ian Anderson is gonna throw a no hitter this year.
No reason for cubs to extend him. They need to go through a full rebuild. They should be big sellers this year and look to bottom out over next couple seasons to stock up on high draft picks
I’ve never understood why large market teams ever “need to bottom out”. Small market teams like the A’s, Rays, Indians, and Brewers haven’t needed to bottom out to stay competitive.
Trade some assets if you’re out of it and won’t re-sign them, but just spend money smarter and rebuild on the fly. When you have hundreds of millions of dollars at your disposal, that doesn’t seem like too much to ask.
Cubs are a large market team acting like a small one and not just because of the pandemic. The penny pinching has been going on for three last 3 offseasons. Ricketts apparently feels like he gave us a title and now it’s time for he and his investors to cash in. I hope he sells the team – he is too heavily financed and has too much debt and cannot afford ownership of this team.
None of those small market teams have championships
You might want to check the numbers on the Indians & Brewers before declaring they didn’t need to “bottom out” to stay competitive. While they didn’t land in last place the Indians averaged over 91 losses a season between 2009 and 2012. And while the Brewers didn’t hit the cellar, their seasons from ’13 to ’16 were anything but competitive when they averaged just under 90 losses each of those seasons. I’d argue that the arrival of Francona is what makes the Indians regular challengers along with Counsell in Milwaukee.
Yeah, small market teams always run a $208m payroll
Yeah! Tom Ricketts is CHEAP! The past three years the Cubs only had the 5th, 2nd and 3rd highest payrolls…. CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!
I wish stupidity hurt….
Judging by a lot of these comments, a lot of these guys have no clue what has happened on the business side of baseball. Do you guys not understand there is a huge payroll tax that kicks in (and gets progressively worse) if the total income hits a certain mark? And it’s not just monetary penalties. There are huge draft pick implications/penalties, as well. It’s not just the Cubs reigning spending in. It’s basically a salary cap, in all reality, because the taxes and penalties get extreme and just compound, every year, if you’re heavily over. As much as I’d like to keep Rizzo for a long time, and hugely pay him, he is on the wrong side of 30, is getting injured more, had a terrible last year (albeit it a lot of guys did, likely due to covid distractions and no fan energy), and this isn’t helping his cause. It’s not 1999. Doing things the George Steinbrenner way and just paying everyone exorbitant amounts of money is not possible anymore and is really dumb.
The Royals won in 2015♂️
The Kansas City Royals have was titles. Cleveland and Tampa have both been in the world Series Twice both went to a game 7 .
I don’t think Joe Ricketts is in debt at all. Not sure that’s possibly being the co founder of TD Ameritrade.
—ps—in reality, the high draft pick thing didn’t work out very well. Other than Bryant (and there are enough trolls out there to argue that) what have any of the high draft picks blossomed into? Almora? Happ? Schwarber?
Schwarber has been pretty solid, and Happ is getting better and better. Not every high draft pick will be a HOFer. Solid major leaguer is a nice outcome.
I hope there are changes in the next CBA that greatly reduce the incentives to tank.
Gbs…. it will most likely be just the opposite. They are going to try to pull those incentives away from the game
As salaries rise, this ‘tanking’ will continue as will ticket prices. Yet somehow, it will be the owners fault.
dpsmith22 – Other than the major league minimum, salaries are determined either by arbitration or the free agent market. No one makes an owner pay a free agent a given amount of money.
When teams tank, it’s the front office and ownership deciding not to compete – generally for a few years – in order to acquire cheap talent through the draft to try to build a winner with younger players they don’t have to pay full market price for.
The correlation between salaries and ticket prices is weak. Owners charge as much as they can for tickets to maximize revenue. Otherwise, wouldn’t owners slash ticket prices when they tank? For example, I don’t recall the Astros (or others) making huge cuts to ticket prices when they were horrible for a few years. If I’m wrong, I would be happy to learn of these big cuts.
MLB is a ~$10B-a-year business. The players are just trying to get what they deem to be a reasonable percentage of that. What that percentage is can be debated, but it’s definitely decreased in the last 15 years and MLBPA leadership has been beaten by MLB’s negotiators handily in the last 2-3 CBAs.
gbs42-I agree with you that the MLB is rich but ticket prices always rise in St. Louis when they sign a big contract…and that is not to mention concession prices rising also, beer prices definitely. You could still take your family, sit in ok seats, bring your own water and food and afford a game cheap…but if you don’t do that it’s getting a little unreasonable…not to mention that wages haven’t been rising much at all until recently…point is that if the players want more money it will come down on the fans not the owners
cards81 – Sure, ticket prices go up when they sign a big contract, but do they ever go down when they reduce payroll? Of course, St. Louis is a bit of a different situation, because they haven’t torn down and rebuilt since…what, the ’90s?
Honestly can’t recall a tear down in the 90’s…the Cardinals weren’t great but they always usually competed well…but of course that was a different era and tear downs weren’t really popular
You’re right, there weren’t these types of tear-downs in the ’90s.
I had to look it up, and since the season increased to 162 games, the Cardinals have won fewer than 70 games once, and that was 69 wins in 1978. They haven’t won fewer than 68 games (and that was in a 154-game season in 1955) since 1924!
Great research…I agree the Cardinals are different…but I guess it really comes down to supply and demand…you demand a great team you will have to supply the cost…so if you come to Busch stadium anytime soon it will cost you…if it wasn’t for COVID St Louis fans would flock to the stadium to see Arenado, no doubt…so we will pay
@bot you are correct. Signing Rizzo (31) makes little sense for a team lacking depth and talent at all positions. He has probably 2-3 more years of elite production and last year could be the beginning of the decline phase. Trade everyone with value and build towards future
@bot
What a load of bullcrap! Fans are tired of rebuilds and especially ‘tanking’ including most all in Chicago who have seen it on both sides of town in the last decade. This will be a major issue along with service time manipulation with the current CBA expiring on December 1st.
I’m fearful of MLB heading to its first work stoppage since the 1994-1995 player strike that nearly killed the sport. I’m not sure if the next one will be another strike or an owner lockout (there have been 8 since 1972 with the players holding a 5-3 edge) but it’s looking more and more likely come 2022.
If any part of next season is lost, baseball might not recover this time as it did before when both MLB and the MLBPA turned a blind eye towards the ‘juicing’ of both balls and players, instead using both to help keep the game relevant. They won’t have that same option this time around. All I can say is a pox on both their houses it these issues can’t be resolved amicably and with no loss of games.
I will be surprised if there ISN’T a loss of some games. I very much hope to be surprised.
No they don’t. Extending Rizzo should’ve been a priority last winter.
If you said this group doesn’t work/mesh anymore, I’d go along with it, but the trio is still very young and in their prime. Not sure a reboot is necessary, just don’t sign players like Hayward to outrageous contracts or over pay pitchers like Kimbrill.
5/$70M? I hate the Rickett’s family. Seriously stop being so cheap. They are complete trash as owners.
#ThatsCub
If Ricketts makes Rizzo walk I’ll be disgusted.
There’s always the QO, but it doesn’t look good.
Rizzo won’t pass on the QO. He’ll take it 100% no doubt about it
What’s the QO? 18Mmil?
Rizzo agent likely using Goldschmidt extension as the main comp and really pushing to be in that ballpark but Jed refusing to go that high it my guess.
Rizzo needs to stick with the Cubs long term, but he might have to find out he will not get getting GoldSchmidt money the hard way.
Maybe Ricketts more than Jed, but who knows. I can see all 3 of them leaving tbh. Sad state of affairs on the north side.
I always wonder if the owners are like “well yea but that’s a bad contract and that’s not the bizness we look to do in order to have a quality org”
There’s no way I pay an aging 1b only guy that Goldy contract today, hard pass
Remember the DH is coming so I imagine Rizzo is playing that card, which he should
i will say this rizzo is a must on resigning and this is coming from a chc hatter, rizzo is the kinda of guy you build your next core around. rizzo is one of those guys you keep around even if he becomes a shell of himself, he is very well loved in chi dose a lot for the city outside of baseball and he is a winner. these are all qualities you want to instill in the younger players coming up, that was the reason chc went after lester and mote they had that winning mentality. if chc want to be put in the class of stl, lad, and the nyy they need to keep key players from past winning teams so they can pass that torch to the kids
Lol I agree with most of what u said but to be in the class of stl? Lmao were way ahead of that class come on now lol
I really thought the Cubs had a chance at building a dynasty, at least as close as you can get to one in baseball. That World Series seems like ages ago now, but flags fly forever.
The tear it down build it up again approach doesn’t really lead to a dynasty. You get a window of a few years where you are really good. Cubs had it so did the Astros but thats it. After that guys like Theo leave town and you are left with the after party letdown.
But as you said flags fly forever.
List the top 3 signings Theo made as a Cubs Executive… you will struggle
He did great work at the beginning in re-establishing the system, but after that, he was absolutely horrible.
Darvish. Zobrist. Resigning Fowler, Lester. Theo did much better in terms of trades. Chapman, and then the Arrieta and Strop deals. Fowler also. Bad ones too with Q (could’ve just brought back Lackey) and trading LaMehiu.
rizzo (traded for and signed to the team friendly extension)
lester
zobrist
and not one pitcher he drafted did anything in the bigs…
That one flag in 110 years flies forever.
Any long term deals for Rizzo / Bryant / Baez is a mistake and will kill them financially. Dump them all and start over. They never will though because fans are ruthless there.
Hey, be nice to us. Who filled up Stu Miller Park ten times a year when the Brewers were bad?
She gotcha there.
“will kill them financially”
That’s gotta be a joke
I think the Cubs would be smart to give him a fair offer at around $90mil/5 years.. he doesn’t take it.. let him test free agency, he’ll realize there won’t be better offers out there, and he’ll come back.. if he doesn’t, move on.
90 million doesnt seem hard to tie or beat.
No one’s going to pay a 32 year-old declining first baseman more than that. He’ll be lucky to get that much.
Gotta keep him in a Cubs uniform. It’s great to have both Chicago clubs with great 1B. Rizzo and especially Abreu. I absolutely love Abreu and what he’s done for Chicago. Ditto for Rizzo.
Makes sense to extend Rizzo if it’s 3 plus an option, and if the Cubs plan to contend in 2022. I don’t think they are and they should hand him a QO and move on. If he accepts the QO so be it.
Possibly consider extending Baez due to age. QO Bryant too. Try and regroup for 2023 or 2024 and have Bote play 3B. Contreras is the trade chip.
Agreed
Not sure I’ve ever seen anybody fumble their goodwill quite like Ricketts. And he deserves the vitriol if he’s gonna run the Cubs like a poverty franchise (no offense to small market fans). None of their recent success comes without Rizzo, especially given that he’s been on a below market deal this whole time. And nobody means more to the franchise and the community than AR. Shameful.
Poverty franchise? Cubs have had a top 5 payroll for how many years in a row now? Why extend a guy for more than he’s worth when he’s heading into the downside of his career? The Cubs need to re-tool, and Rizzo can be part of that… at the right price, but it has to be on the Cubs terms, not Rizzo’s
When you’re top 5 in revenue, you should be top 5 in spending. The problem is that all indications from his actions and words are that he has no intentions to continue that level of spending. Citing “biblical losses” when in reality those losses have nothing to do with baseball ops and everything to do with dumb financial decisions (massively overleveraging his assets so that he could buy up the whole neighborhood), no extensions for anybody, trading Darvish for peanuts so that he could avoid paying him despite the fact that they literally won the division last year, etc. He deserves credit for that WS, but he also deserves criticism if it’s his intention to cash in without attempting to win in the future, which sure seems to be the case. Fans who mindlessly defend billionaire owners in their contract negotiations with players will never not be weird to me.
Spending money doesn’t equal wins.. Spending money wisely on players for future production rather than past production does equal wins….
While it’s true that money does not equal wins, ultimately big market teams should be using their financial resources to their advantage. When you have a team full of good, young major league players and one of the worst farm systems in baseball, you absolutely should be putting your financial resources to your advantage by working out extensions. The Cubs didn’t do that. Now they’re facing the prospect of losing all of those guys for nothing, with no replacements available (who’s knocking down the door to take Rizzo’s job? Absolutely nobody. Ditto with Bryant and Baez.). And trading one of the best pitchers in baseball to get off his totally reasonable contract is definitely not a good use of resources.
Rizzo will still finish his career with the Cubs, but he might have to test free agency to find out that he is not getting Freeman or GoldSchmidt money.
My guess he will eventually sign a 5/90 type deal at some point.
He’s worth what Goldschmidt got though. If not more. Who says he’s not worth that.
Me! Goldy wasn’t worth it as well so its kinda a comparative fallacy linking the 2
He’s not worth it.
Either you have direct knowledge of the ask/offer or you think the Cubs should give Rizzo a blank check. Which category do you reside?
Based on what’s been reported, it’s really not that hard to figure out the range of what he’s asking for (Goldschmidt range, give or take). And yes, I do think the Cubs should be willing to go into that range.
So you are basing your opinion of Tom Ricketts solely on what you’ve seen reported? I’m a big Rizzo fan and haven’t been all that fond of the Ricketts family ownership. That being said, I’m going to be fair to both sides and try my best not to spend other peoples money. I don’t make a distinction between billionaires and millionaires when it comes to being fair..
But based on his actions and words in the last 2 years Ricketts hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt on this. It’s not just Rizzo. He hasn’t extended everybody. He hemmed and hawed about “biblical losses” like the fans wouldn’t notice that the “biblical losses” had way less to do with baseball ops than his own poor financial decisions (ie massively overleveraging his assets to buy up the whole neighborhood, build that stupid hotel, etc). He traded Darvish for peanuts so that he didn’t have to pay him despite the fact that he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball and they literally won the division last year. And on and on. And because the Cubs have one of the worst farm systems in baseball, there is no backup plan to extending the core; obviously you can’t extend all 3, but if you don’t extend anybody you’re back in 376 Ls in 4 years territory because you have almost nothing on the way. I’m not giving the Cubs the benefit of the doubt I would give the Pirates, Royals, etc. Money should never be an excuse to not field a competitive team.
Or give him the same amount and years Goldschmidt got. 5 years and anywhere from 125-130 is a fair deal. He’s earned it that’s for sure.
Darvish one of the best pitchers in baseball? before the pandemic he was considered a sunk cost. I think every gm in mlb would have made that deal.
The extension is dead on arrival. That means more money for the overrated Baez.
That’d be a horrible contract.
When have they been non-competitive?
Cubs had a team friendly contract, so I imagine he’s looking to make that up now.
It’s looking more and more like none of Rizzo, Baez, Bryant or Contreras will sign contract extensions before opening day. Most Cubs fans were at least hoping for one to materialize during spring camp. This only ups the ante for any of these core championship players to be dealt by this summer’s trade deadline, a near certainty if the Cubs are not contending come July.
He gone.
Name the Top 3 Cubs signings that Theo Epstein made… he was good at establishing hitters in the farm system and making some deals, but when you gave him $$$$, he was a trainwreck.
Go ahead, name the top 3
Lester, Zobrist, Darvish. Did I win?
Lester, Zobrist, Lackey, Fowler, Darvish.
Four out of those five were big in helping the Cubs win the World Series
@ josh—-since downs asked it twice—pretty sure you are going to get a rebuttal on some others—but for my money if you stopped at Lester you would have been correct….his signing covers the top ten, let alone three.
Jon Lester is the most “important” player the Cubs have had in my lifetime—and yes, I have lived through Banks, Williams, Santo, Sandberg, Dawson, Sosa, etc….
Lester completely changed the face and the future of the Cubs by signing.
@mike127 i’d have to agree at the time i thought chc overpaid for lester but from day 1 he changed the culture in chc and ended up an underpaid. tbh chc should of resigned lester even if he is a shell of himself, he is a mentor for the young arms and can teach kids on how to battle though a game when you just don’t have it that night.
I’m not completely sweating out the Opening Day deadline. Zambrano said the same thing back in Spring Training 2007 and the extension was finalized that summer.
This will play out like Realmuto and PHI. Offer him the QO, and if he takes it, great! If not Rizzo can test the market, and at least the Cubs won’t be bidding against themselves. By waiting they’ll probably spend less than signing him now.
Cubs, c’mon, really? Rizzo’s awesome….. great guy, fan favorite, good 1B, and career Cub (for the most part). He wants to stay, you want him to stay – make it happen.
Best 1B in baseball or at the very least the NL. He’s top 3 over in 1H ranks.
I don’t know about best, but certainly an argument can be made. I’m not disputing it; he’s certainly at the top of the list somewhere.
@wrek – LOL what?? I’m a Cubs fan but just in the NL Freeman and Bellinger are unquestionably better. You could argue Goldschmidt and Alonso as well.
Jose Abreu says hi.
@wrek 305
Best 1st baseman in the NL? I didn’t realize that Freddie Freeman, and Paul Goldschmidt had died. But then again you thought Contreras was better them Salvador Perez and Yasmani Grandal.
Rizzo is better than Goldy. Rizzo is at the very least best defensive 1B. He should’ve won 5 gold gloves in a row but was snubbed in 2017.
@wrek305 i wouldn’t say rizzo is better than goldy but more on the same level but i will say both players are easily top 5 in the nl.
@wrek305
Amen to that. I just hope by keeping the core intact we are able to see a White Sox-Cubs WS sometime this decade.
Rizzo probably wants 7-8 years. Not going to happen and it shouldn’t. He is 32 with history of back problems. Offer 4 yrs. 80 mil
Take it or leave it.
5/130 is a fair deal. More than fair. Doubt he wants 7 or 8 years. 5 years with a mutual option for a 6th year is a fair deal. The Ricketts unfortunately are cheap.
@wrek – 5/130 would be a huge overpay at Rizzo’s age. 5/100 would be much closer.
26 million for annual average is not fair for 5 years. That is more than the bad Heyward contract.
Too much for Rizzo, and the Ricketts aren’t close to being cheap.
Yeah because refusing to spend almost no money the last 3 winters isn’t cheap at all trading your beat pitcher for Zach Davies and 3 players that probably don’t make the ML either at all or with the cubs. Being 18 or younger. No one has ever heard of them either.
I’m sorry but this is a stupid comment.
Those three prospects the Cubs traded for a legit prospects and Davies is a legit 3rd man in the rotation starter.
It’s very rare for a 16 and 17 year old kids to crack MLB top 100 ranking, Tatis didn’t even sniff the top 100 when he was signed as an international free agent but give them a year or two to open some eyes.
All four prospects the Cubs traded for have star potential and in the trade they got back Davis and were allowed to sign Pederson as a result of trading Yu… I think the Cubs got better with the trade over all.
Also, the Cubs not spending money…. the Cubs had the second or third highest payroll two years ago and last season had a real need to reset the luxury tax (which they failed to do). You can cry all day long about not spending out of one side of your mouth and talk about building a dynasty out the other.
The Ricketts and Epstein gave the Cubs a World Series title and a ton of regular and post season success and that isn’t good enough for their whinny b)(%y fan base.
Dream on fanboy. He’s not getting anywhere close to that.
They would probably give Hoyer a mental health check if he offered Rizzo 5/130.
Cubs would be idiots to offer 5/130. I am hoping the cubs and most other teams have learned that overpaying 30 year olds never works out. 5 for 80 seems pretty darn reasonable.
Thank God for the Ricketts. What a special era its been. Great young farm raised ballplayers, a world series, and multiple play off seasons. A completely refurbished ball park, and our own television station to boot. Cubs have laid the groundwork for consistent winning year in and year out. Now smartly unloading players before they pass their primes. Can’t get sucked in to keeping a large group of the uneducated over reactionary fan base happy all the time. Joe Maddon said it best; DBAFF.
The Ricketts are the problem. You of all people with your name.shluld want Rizzo extended…. while he’s in his prime.
Ricketts hire Theo Epstein, most sought after GM/President in baseball. Cubs hire Joe Maddon,, considered one of the best managers in baseball at the time.. Cubs go to 3 straight NLCS and win WS in 2016. Cubs go to playoffs 5 out of last 6 years. Ricketts pays for renovation of Wrigley Field himself (800 million?) Cubs near top 3 in payroll 2016-2020. All of this, under Ricketts. What are you talking about?
They didn’t need to build an eyesore hotel next to wrigley. It’s a damn shame they did too. Takes away that neighborhood feel. It benefits no one. I wouldn’t doubt for a second Joe wanted badly to build a new stadium too.
Tom borrowed another 800mil from his father to modernize wrigleyville.
Love how you make it look like Rizzo is in the wrong and calling him out.. No he DID NOT tell his agent to stop talking to them.. I dont know where you get your info but where i read is that he comfortable keeping opening day as deadline not to not talk to them…
bleachernation.com/cubs/2021/03/29/anthony-rizzo-s…
I read these guys on a regular basis they are more in touch with the cubs than you Cub haters come close to! And to the people reading this yes i proof read my comments!!
That’s so gangster. The Cubs have no shame, apparently. Time to turn the page, Cubs fans.
Saw on Twitter the cubs lowballed him with roughly half what Paul Goldschmidt got. That’s total BS. Rizzo is 2 years younger. Better 1st baseman and better overall player.
—and that’s because Twitter is the new source of truth. And as a lifelong season ticket holder—if the Cardinals offered Goldschmidt for Rizzo it would take me about four hours to drive down to St. Louis and pick him up. If Goldschmidt got 5/130—Rizzo should be in about the 4/80-90 range.
Boom! You get it. One of the few on here who actually do.
It would be a hard pass for me yo trade rizzo for Goldschmidt. I’d trade Kris Bryant for Matt Carpenter though. If it was 2017. I’m obviously joking.
I agree Rizzo is absolutely worth 90-100 mil. Any rean that needs a First baseman would jump at that chance to pay him that.
It is lowballing Rizzo big time but I think Freeman is better and Goldy too most years. It will be interesting to see what comes of this hard line stance with their core guys. Time will tell. Guess it makes some sense where those 3 have to prove it and if teams succeeds maybe 2 of them get better offers from Cubs or other teams. I think this year will get in the head of Baez & Rizzo most likely.
I just don’t understand why they couldn’t sign Rizzo to big money few years ago (even with tons of deferred money). It’s shocking that no one sides besides Hendriks & Bote (Lol) have been extended.
I believe he is making 16.5 mil this year. Coming off a terrible year. How is 20 mil lowballing him?
14.5 mil per year for 5 years (70 million) is a lowball offer. 60% of the league had a bad year. 5/92 which is 18.4aav is very reasonable. 5/100 is too.
It’s not likes he’s asking what Boras would demand for Bryant. Which would probably be 8/275
Bote is only 15 mil over 5 years. Hendricks. Signed an extremely friendly deal. Unfortunately it doesn’t include a no trade.
Bote is expendable. They’ve got 5 other guys that plays the spots be plays. The cubs are probbaly the most versatile in baseball. For example. If you put Baez at 2nd or 3rd for a full year or at least 90% of the time he can easily win a gold glove. Let’s be real.ast year was his first but should’ve been his 3rd or 4th
The Cubs still aren’t trading Bryant if they are in the race at the deadline. If Bryant leaving in FA really was the end-of-the-world scenario that you seem to think it is, the Cubs wouldn’t get anything for him anyway.
Exactly and it’s not the end of the world either. Your right, extend the qo if he earns it this season and if he does not accept I wish him the best, but we are going to win the division and be A Lot better than some seem to think. Go cubs!!!
@Cubsforever22 but wrek keeps saying that they will trade Bryant at the deadline even if they are in the race because they can’t just let him walk for nothing.
The best thing for Rizzo is for him to head to another team that is making a run at a championship so he can get another ring before he retires.
And, there’s no reason for the Cubs to sign an aging first baseman to an extension. Let him walk and wish him well and bring him back after he retires so he can be a Cub for life.
Lol at the doom and gloom. We’re going to win the division again this year. Our rotation is a lot better than people think and the bullpen has a chance of being extremely dominant with the depth of arms around. No one hit last year but happ and heyward and we won the division, I think Javy Wilson Rizzo and joc are going to have big years. In the end Rizzo and Javy will both resign. Kb walks if he doesn’t accept the qo. We also have a lot more talent in the farm that a lot of people think. Brennan Davis is a Stud and I expect big things from BM and Alozaly. By the end of the year the system will be ranked at the very least in the top 15. Maybe top 10. A lot of development happened last year that hasn’t had a chance to show up. I can’t wait for Thursday and we will be in the playoffs with a chance this year. Don’t buy into all the wannabe Chicago media naysayers and trolls. This team is not rebuilding, we will be in the middle of it this year as we will years to come. Forbes valuations came out today and even with the pandemic the cubs value rose 5% in total value to close to 3.5 bil. Don’t let the negativity of some get to u. Get on board or just gtfo of the way.
Why TF would he want to stay on a sinking ship? He is a topnotch hitter and high skill level in the field, he can go wherever he wants.
5/$70. Jesus man. I was thinking 5/$90 with a thank you for taking the discount last time.
But, I also have no idea how far typical negotiations work. Maybe the team always starts with a “lowish” ball offer.
5/$90 sounds good to me
twitter.com/CubsZone/status/1376690324031029251?s=…
Such an insult to Rizzo. For everything he’s done for them. They lowball him like this?
5/70. It should be at least 40mil more.
Will the other 29 teams offer him the bonus for “all he’s done for the Cubs” or will they negotiate to sign him for what they deem him to be worth? Cubs took a risk extending Rizzo, he had a down year post signing that could’ve been the start of a trend. It worked out for both sides. Rizzo got security after a terrible debut and some mediocre stretches early on with the Cubs. Cubs got some extra value, so what. They lost tons of value on other signings as well.
Rizzo will be 33, limited to first base or DH. How many teams will be lining up to so the him for more than 3-4 years at maybe $15-20 per? He’s not as valuable to other teams as he is to the Cubs since he is a big marketing chip for fans. Problem for him is he’s just another 1B/DH to the 29 other teams in the league.
You think 14M per is Rizzo’s worth? Enjoy another 108 years of being a joke
Considering he’s making 16.5 mil this year and the last 3 years. Yeah its low ball offer. I don’t see why 5/100 or 5/88 is over pay. 5/70 is way below his value. And it’s an insult. He wants to stay they want him to stay. It’s not like they don’t have the money. They have nearly 40mil off the books after this year. Just.with Bryant and kimbtel(who will likely be bought out.
He wanted roughly 100mil. That’s not exactly braking the Hank. We all know Boras will de af 300mil for Kris Bryant over 8 years. KB knows he’s not worth that.
Too bad the 10/200 supposedly offered was fake news. It would’ve been a steal right now. The cubs should’ve extended Rkzzo 3 years ago. He’s only 31. Don’t get why that’s old for some people
Yeah, he’ll be 33 August 2022.
Rizzo needs better representation. Gave the Cubs a discount on his early years and bet against himself, and now he’s looking to get paid on what he did years ago. Still think he’s a solid player and deserves a good contract, but afraid he’s looking to make up for what he gave away.
Fair offer for 32 going to be 33 year old. Not many guys are even playing into their late 30s let alone playing great. Rizzo probably has illusions of grandeur or the Cubs could of countered back at 100 million. More than that let him walk.
Yea yeah he was underpaid, but if he got hurt or stunk would he have retired or gave the Cubs money back? But he is a fan favorite. Why? He won’t even take a discount to stay a cub, he wants full market value or more. Best thing for the Cubs is not to over pay any of them. KC fans allegedly love Perez and Gordon. Well a million of them didn’t love them enough to keep buying tickets when they weren’t a winning team.
No he’s 31 going to be 32.
That’s a fair offer. His agent should suggest a shorter deal for a higher AAV. 2/40.
Pandemic has altered the economics of baseball. Let Rizzo test the market, he has earned that right. However, he might be in for a surprise especially after a lockout and a new agreement. Far better Cubs players than Rizzo had to move on. Santo ended his career with the White Sox. Billy Williams ended with the Oakland A’s, Fergie played for Boston & Texas in his 30s. Maddux to Atlanta. The Hawk to Boston & Florida. Grace to the Dbacks. On and on.
The pandemic says see Mets offer for Lindor
I like Anthony Rizzo a lot but, he owes the Cubs nothing. Rizzo needs to go to a team that wants to win or keep winning. Something that the Cubs have no interest in, Ricketts family has their WS trophy, they are satisfied. After listening to and reading Cubs blog writers and Cubs fans, they to are satisfied with their 1 WS trophy.
You sound like a Sox troll.
He wants to stay on the cubs. The cubs claim the same but refuse to pay him his worth. Which is minimum 18mil aav
My guess is, this isn’t done yet. It’s business, and both sides are playing their game.
Rizzo signs for 4/80 or 5/90 by the All Star break. Book it.
He’s done with extention talks as of Thursday. Unless they get around the 90mil mark it won’t happen. Or 85mil with incentives.
Business games by both sides. Doesn’t mean they are done talking. Rizzo and his agent putting pressure on Cubs.
PAY HIM OR I QUIT BEING A CUBS FAN.
Here, Davro, here’s your Sox troll.
They are obsessed with Cubs.
Indeed they are, to the point where it’s prolly pretty toxic to their own minds. The amount of space the cubs live rent free in some of you Sox troll minds is legit insane. Most of u prolly are the self loathing type that secretly wish they picked the team on the north side growing up to be a fan of lmao
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being both a Cubs and White Sox fan. It’s prolly sacriligious to say that, but I don’t care. I’m fine with being both.
Come on over Rizzo to the Southside
You can’t pay him on what he has done, but rather for what he is going to do. So since he will likely decline in performance, $14 mil per year is fair.
The players need to fight to become free agents after 5 years. 6 years is too long to be under club control.
Excellent point. His power numbers have went down a bit since 2017 also. Then their are the back issues, which will probably get worse with age.
5 yrs @70M; no wonder talks have stalled…..
This five year offer appears reasonable on length. Rizzo has a back problem that flares from time to time. As we with back issues know, the problems tend to increase with age. The $70 million offer appears to be negotiable closely on the upside to include added performance incentives. Otherwise we might see Rizzo enjoying his new cement pond in Sand Diego or the Angels.
None of Baez, Bryant, or Rizzo deserve more than 20 million on annual average in their next contract. And I am one of the biggest Cubs homers around.
Rizzo 5-100
Baez 7-140
Bryant 5-100
60 million a year if they prove it this year. With Opt outs for the club and players if they decline or preform at their former MVP levels.
Ill agree 20 mill a year would be a fair offer..and its kinda his own fault for trusting the cubs or any team ownership to make things right..he gave them huge discounts if memory serves me one of his best years he only made 8 millish…all that said he is still a great player who deserves better..one of the things i love about him is despite all his success he still trys to become a better player..case in point he was a dead pull hitter most of his career and the past couple years he totally change his approach at the plate to be a more all around hitter
Why do people act like teams owe players something when they willingly agree to a contract and out perform it? Players almost never give money back/retire early if they suck…why would the team be expected to pay for past cheap performance?
IMO, Rizzo is going to get 85-90 million on the free agent if he has a qualifying offer attached to him based off recent free agent deals, his age, health concerns, positional needs/limitations.
Basically, the Cubs most likely offered him something very similar to what he would get on the open market, 70 million guaranteed plus escalators. Most likely, Rizzo’s escalators had to do with plate appearances in his last two years (rumor was his deal was front loaded) since his back is a concern.
I think Rizzo eventually re-signs with the Cubs for 80 million in guaranteed money with the potential to make 100 million. My guess… 5 years with a sixth year option that includes a 10 million buy out. I’m leaning towards the escalators being the same:
16.5
16.5
16.5
10.5 – 5 million with 500 AB
10 – 5 million with 500 AB
20 million team option 10 million buyout.
Another 10 million or so based on awards/MVP finishes.
You have to realize that organizations look at a number of factors and deeper analytics than most fans see. Injury history also plays a big part. They also put together future projections based on these factors. Some of the projections I’ve seen have Rizzo being more of a 20 HR 70 RBI player within a couple of years. That’s quite a bit different than the 30+ HR and 100+ RBI player he was a few years ago. Just maybe that’s the reason they offered a front loaded lesser contract. In that case, 15 per year would be a very fair offer.
I would tend to agree. I think 5 years 85-90 mil will be the deal once all is said and done, maybe a 5th year option with 80 mil guaranteed prolly gets it done. Just need to do it quick and get Javy signed early before he starts putting up mvp numbers again(which I really think he will and while playing gold glove ss) also Javy has so much value especially to international kids team keeps looking to sign. He’s like all of their favorite player. Don’t be fooled by last years numbers, dude is gonna rake again this year, get it done soon too. Also gets rid of the false media/troll tear down nonsense that’s our there. To me that’s priceless. When all is said and done Javy and Rizzo will be extended. Kb walks after getting a qo. Playoffs 5 of last 6 years and top 4-5 payroll for almost that entire time. Payrolls down a bit this year but will be Back next year. Team is just too big of a big market jugurnaut to do anything else. Certain clowns in the media/ toxic Twitter just think it’s fashionable to bash the cubs non stop while sucking off the Sox. Had enough of it and can’t wait till they start choking on crow. Can’t wait for 220 et tomm. 2021 Nl central champs with a good chance to at least get to the lcs where anything can happen. Keep sleeping on this lineup, pen, and rotation. Go ahead, it will make winning for the true fans all the sweeter. Go cubs go!!!
5/$70M seems quite low to me even with Rizzo’s advanced age. I was expecting something closer to 4/$75M or even 4/$80M given his talent and overall worth to the team. Perhaps 4/$75M offer with a reasonable 5th year vesting option worth $15M would get it done, along with a $5M buyout on that option. That would make this contract worth 4/$80M in guaranteed money and CBT hit. $20M/yr for the next 4 years seems about right for Rizzo’s talent level and abilities.
Oh my gosh! I am a die hard Cubbie fan, when did we get Rizzo? He’s been one of my favorite players since coming into the league
You are far from a Cub fan, but nice try.
I agree Anthony Rizzo is the modern day Mr. Cub. He is worth more than 70 million get real fokes. He is a great defender hits for average and power. He’s not looking for Arod or Jeter contracts he wants paid what he’s worth. Unproven White Sox players make that money. Bruce Levine said he wants close to 100 million. He’s worth it. We have paid Bryant 19 million last couple years unhealthy Darvish 24 million Heyward 25 million they didn’t produce Darvish 1 good year out of 3.
Sometimes it’s all about timing when you become a free agent. Different economic times
pre-pandemic. Rizzo will probably sign, but I doubt it will be 100 mil. Look at all the 1 year contracts this year in mlb. A few exceptions, but mainly teams that think they can win a WS this year.
Bryant’s contract is more a product of early success including ROY, MVP and arbitration. Heyward was just good timing, and a few teams in a bidding war for 26 year old with superstar potential.
3 years/$63-mil, $17-mil option. He’s turns 32 in August. This seems fair for a loyal Cubs All-Star in his mid-30s when the extension kicks in.
This team is headed for a rebuild. Does he want to stay unless he gets more than market value? I don’t know..
I don’t think the Cubs are in any danger of needing a complete rebuild. They have a couple solid ML contributors now with team control, a couple high upside guys and I think their farm system is a lot better than people realize.
Cubs break out minor leaguer- Jordan Nwogu… I think the Cubs clean up his hitting mechanics and the guy explodes onto the scene.