The Cubs and catcher Willson Contreras have avoided arbitration, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN (Twitter link). The sides came to terms on a $9.625MM salary, agreeing to the exact midpoint between their respective $10.25MM and $9MM filing figures.
The agreement doesn’t have any long-term contractual ramifications, but they’ll avoid the hassle and any potential acrimony of going through a hearing — which had been scheduled for today. This is the final trip through the arb process for Contreras, who is scheduled to reach free agency for the first time at the end of the season.
The 30-year-old looks like the clear top option among a deep catching class, and he’s continued to improve his stock with an incredible first couple months of the season. Contreras owns a .277/.403/.530 line with ten home runs through 201 plate appearances, sporting career-best marks in both walk (11.9%) and strikeout (19.9%) rate in the process. He leads catchers (minimum 100 trips to the plate) in wRC+ with a 162 mark that indicates he’s been 62 percentage points better than the average batter thus far.
Not only is that hot start setting up a likely lucrative free agent payday, it also makes him one of the most interesting players to follow over the next six-to-eight weeks. The Cubs are ten games below .500 and a virtual lock to miss the postseason, making Contreras one of the game’s bigger potential deadline trade chips. Last month, he told Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago he’d not heard any extension overtures from the front office. That’d seem to point towards a trade being the likelier outcome, although the career-long Cub has consistently maintained he’d be open to in-season discussions if the front office initiates talks.
The agreement closes the books on a light arbitration class for the North Siders. Outfielder Ian Happ was the only other arbitration-eligible player on the roster, and he and the organization agreed to a $6.85MM salary during Spring Training. Happ, himself a possible midseason trade candidate, will go through the process once more before reaching free agency after the 2023 campaign.
it’s still strange seeing salaries determine 1/3 of the way into the season.
Yeah how does this work? I thought players usually received biweekly paychecks (just like the rest of us), but prorated to their annual salary. So was Contreras just not getting paid yet? Or will his future paychecks just be adjusted for what he’s already been paid?
I would guess that he receives the MLB minimum or the lower of the two arb figures until the hearing, or in this case until an agreement is reached, and then adjustments are made after. Just a guess.
Players are getting the team’s offer until the hearing. If they win, they get back pay to make up the difference.
I agree it’s strange. I thought that major league players were paid but weekly starting from the report date of spring training and if the arbitration wasn’t settled they were paid their previous years salary until the case was resolved and then received a bulk sum for the difference. That was my understanding-I could be wrong. What I think sucks is that minor league players don’t get paid or ST. Again, I might be wrong, I’d love to find out first person-I mean, I can play a little third base and am offering my services to any organization.
We never confirmed this was the process, but I’d heard in Spring Training the plan for these situations was for the player to be paid at the team rate (the lower of the two filing figures) until their hearing was decided.
If they lost the hearing, that’d continue to be their salary. If they won it or settled at a higher amount, they’d receive back pay.
Yeah, I don’t understand this either. Why don’t they make these things get decided before the season begins. Imagine going to work and they tell you you’re getting paid between 30K-50K, just not sure what.
They typically do decide this stuff before the start of the season. The lockout froze offseason business until mid-March and there wasn’t enough time between it being lifted and the start of the season to arrange arbitrator availability to handle the hearings before Opening Day.
Okay that’s all great! Let’s get him traded to the Yankees now!
I still don’t get why the Cubs with no Catching prospects in the system (Miguel Amaya is Spanish for Ty Griffin or Brook Kieschnick) are not trying to lock Willson up. It is too hard to find good catching.
Maybe they are trying to lock him up, but he’s over 30 and they don’t want to go too far on a limb with their offer. I would be surprised if they didn’t make one. It’ll probably be a low-ball like they did with Rizzo.
There was no ‘low ball offer’ to Rizzo. Rizzo signed with the Yankees for about what he was offered by the Cubs. Oh, and Rizzo isn’t exactly out performing that contract.
It was a lowball offer (prior to the 2021 season coming off a 60 game season). If Rizzo had improved in 2021, he could have beat that offer (5 years, $70 million). But he bet on himself and with the way he’s playing, it looks like he’ll have to take his player option for 2023.
14 Hrs isn’t bad but that .201 BA, but, hey he hasn’t had a bad back this year.
I think Rizzo wanted out.
Rizzo didn’t want put and I know this to be a fact.
I am guessing based on the fact that he turned down $70M. I can’t believe that his agent thought he was going to get a better deal.
It wasn’t a lowball offer. His metrics were down across the board. When he passed on the offer, Hoyer weighed what he could bring in a trade against what he could deliver on the field and made a baseball decision. He got a nice return and Rizzo wouldn’t have made any significant difference in where the Cubs are now.
Rizzo has been extremely valuable for the Yankees, but you’d probably have to be a Yankees fan watching the games to know that. He’s in the fourth rank among first basemen in runs & RBI, and his fielding has greatly improved the defense. He also gave the team something they greatly needed: a clutch situational hitter who chokes up on the bat with two strikes and makes contact.
WAR won’t account for that because it can’t quantify how a particular player’s skill set complements the needs of a particular team, but it matters. Ask any Yankee fans if they like Rizzo. I think they’ll tell you they’re very satisfied with his contributions. I’d go further and say they wouldn’t have their current record without him.
Pink… I couldn’t agree more. Rizzo has been underrated his entire career on the national stage. Theo/Jed were true believers. They drafted him in Boston and stuck with him through his bout with cancer. Jed brought him to San Diego and he was one of the first players they traded for in the Cub rebuild and was vital to them getting to and winning that WS. Gold Glove fielder, clutch bat, great clubhouse presence and now an under the radar hero for the Yankees. Go Rizz, go.
He’s not underrated at all. When he was up, everyone acknowledged it. He just went into somewhat early and steep decline and now some folks overrate him.
Contreras is good offensively, but NOT defensively. He overvalues himself.
Your Sox fan is showing. He is not good with framing but that won’t be needed once we go to an electronic strike zone. But he has a very strong and accurate arm. And he is passionate about winning. A team can win with him for sure.
The reigning WS Champions won with Travis D’Arnaud as their catcher. Skill behind the plate was never his forte….
Contreras has a lot of skills, plus arm, plus bat (even if I do call him the king of garbage time) good blocker, moves well…. What he lacks is the relationship needed to develop pitchers and to a lot of organizations, that is way more valuable than a 20 home runs and 70 rbis.
Granted there are NOT that many guys who are pitcher whisperers Maldonado, Molina, Gomes… the recently retired Posey… those are guys who make the pitcher better… their presence behind the plate shaves runs off eras… Contreras isn’t that guy. That’s why the Cubs went out and grabbed Gomes and gave him two years guaranteed with a third year club option. Because when he is behind the plate, he makes guys better and develops them and that is what the cubs need desperately moving forward over the next couple years.
As a cubs fan, I heard all the chatter from pitchers “I can’t wait to throw to yan Gomes” no one said that about Contreras… doesn’t mean he cannot defend, hit, throw out runners… he isn’t “the guy” behind the plate giving pitchers confidence
The cubs signed Gomes strictly as backup.
Says the guy whose team’s highest contract ever is both bad offensively and defensively as a catcher and a huge reason the Astros made the Sox look like little leaguers in the playoffs last year and continue to be an average team this year. If Grandal played for the Cubs his contract would be scrutinized the same way Heyward’s has been. But since he plays for the White Sox 99.999999%+ of the baseball world just doesn’t care.
Nobody cares about the White Sucks. In my case, I tell you: I follow almost every team in MLB, but I really don’t know why I care so little about that team. Maybe because it seems they are leftovers in that city. They should be moved to Las Vegas or somewhere else, for real.
He’s a top 3 defensive catcher actually.
Cubs are more concerned with guys who can handle a pitching staff than a guy who can handle the bat. We are not concerning ourselves with locking up contreras because we have Gomes and Higgins with Amaya on the way… all three have received high praise for the way they handle pitching staffs.
Frankly, if I’m the Cubs, I only want Contreras as a primary DH who spells Gomes occasionally at backstop and I’m not going to pay the catcher who can hit premium. The issue with that is they have Schwindel who can hit but really shouldn’t play the field either and hoyer/Ross prefer to have the DH open than locking a guy in (or so they say, Ortega has been getting the majority of reps at DH while heyward continues to embarrass himself at the plate all while Frazier rots on the bench).
How do you know they aren’t?
Maybe they want Ross to take one for the team and catch every couple days in 23.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cubs went Gomes/Maldonado in 2023. Both guys are great at handling pitchers and the cubs focus for the remainder of this year and next is to develop thompson, Steele, Kilian, swarmer and Alzolay.
Astros have a 2023 team option on Maldonado. If he’s any good this year, they’ll pick it up since it’s less than what they’re paying him this year.
Maldonado’s is a vesting option and it’s already guaranteed.
When did his option vest? What I read was if he played in 90 games this year it becomes guaranteed
Maldonado was already on the cubs. 2023 should be Contreras/Gomes and when he’s ready Amaya.
Contreras family going to do very well
Sometimes I just think the Cubs do things to just piss off players. Then whine that the player doesn’t want to sign a long term deal to try to get their fan base thinking that it’s the players fault. Contreras is making less money than James McCann and is without a doubt a top 5 catcher given his offense and defensive metrics.
Willson will end up making double what McCann is making whether he signs with the Cubs or not.
In defense of them, it was wise to not pay big money for ’16 nostalgia players that got deals elsewhere. Same here with catcher that has a lot of miles. He’ll easily surpass McCann for reasons you stated when his turn for open bidding.
Javy’s biggest skill is his quickness and paying big money for a guy getting older for his quickness would have been foolish, just ask the Tigers.
KB is a good ballplayer but he wanted out.
Rizzo wanted to be payed like Goldschmidt, if only he was as good as Goldschmidt…and there is that back….
Javy and KB did well in free agency. And before someone posts that the Cubs offered more, add in the salaries they made in the arb years after the offers and it’s in the ballpark.
It looks like Rizzo guessed wrong twice when he made decisions on contracts. What would he have gotten in the 2018-19 off-season if he didn’t sign that first deal? Oh well, we should all be so lucky to make $100 million+ in our careers.
Baez and KB did do very well in free agency. They got teams to pay for past performance. I hate to see KB down with a back issue, Yelich comes to mind on how it affected him. Baez is doing horribly offensively, still good at the running game when he does get on base. Rizzo took offense at the contract offer and that was the end of his Cubs’ tenure. Even if the Cubs offered more than the Yanks, I think he would have chosen the Yanks because of that. It was a fair offer IMHO, given his age and performance.
KB was never going to re-sign or sign an extension. The manipulation stuff soured him. Luckily it didn’t affect his play.
Don’t discount that he wanted to be on a team west of the Rocky Mountains. I think some of that indignation was pure theatre.
I’m sure he won’t be on the team too much longer
It would be cool to see him and his brother William both make the All Star team
I still don’t get the reason the Cubs are antagonizing this guy. He’s worth more if they sign him to a long term deal in a trade that way than being a rental. Want him or not, this would would seem to be the smart play. Someone will want him whatever they pay him. I’m also assuming, they have someone they’re targeting in a trade with at least one of their trade chips to go with Gomes who is only signed through next year.I know the organization is high on Casey Opitz, who is a defensive whiz. He’s also a switch hitter just not a good one. He probably won’t be ready for at least 2 more years. He’s not listed in their top 30 prospects, but I know people in the industry who like him, Just not Callis and his dumb friends which isn’t surprising.
How are they antagonizing him?
Look, Willie is like all of the other Cubs “core” – he wants to get paid. They all saw dollar signs ever since they ended the “curse”. But the Cubs were not willing to base their future salaries on past performance.
As for Willie, yes, his case is different because he’s having a great year. But still, catchers don’t tend to age well. He’s going to want 6 or 7 years at 25 mil per year and there is no way the Cubs will go there.
The only C who ever got close to that kind of money was Posey. I’m quite sure he’s not looking for 7 years either if he’s realistic. The best C’s on the game are averaging around 16 million a year so 5 and 85 isn’t unrealistic.
Agreed,,,even 5/75 would be a market offer for Contreras. The Cubs have nothing in the system (Amaya) has turned into a second tier prospect. Those who bark at his age (30) aren’t looking at his peers age. What’s the first thing a rebuilding organization does with a young pitching staff-they get a veteran catcher. Even as he ages there is a track record of older catchers becoming good DH candidates. .
Where is this track record of catchers turning into good DH options?
He’s 29 and in 7 years he will be 36. Since he is thisclose to free agency, why wouldn’t he ask for that? If they say no, hey, no big deal because he can see if any other clubs are willing to do so. In the end he will sign for where he can get the best deal, of course. But you won’t know unless you ask. As for $$ you’re way off base. Hell, Sanchez makes 9M. Realmuto makes over 20M.
And how are the Phillies loving that Realmutto deal now? He’s really turned them into a winner and elevated their P’s hasn’t he? LMAO
I’d answer that post by Rondon except he has some kind of filter on blocking replies. Leave it to him to ask for an answer to a question and then block the replies. But suffice it to say Contreras is now making the same money as Gary Sanchez is quite an insult. You might as well spit in the guys face. They have tons of money and no Luxury tax problem so why the drama?
Might as well spit in his face? What completely absurd exaggeration. There is a system of salary and arbitration and such that both sides agree to. When you think a player should get more they’re being spit on? Ridiculous. Are owners being spit on when a player is overpaid? What does Sanchez have to do with anything? If he got less would that make things better, more fair? You’re speaking as if the payment system has a 100% expectation of meritocracy. It doesn’t. It can’t. There’s no injustice here.
There is no way that any team goes that far for a 31 year old catcher.
I would guess the ceiling would be Realmuto (5/$115MM). I think Contreras ends up around $20 million per year. I don’t know if teams will go a fifth year. Maybe.
You don’t know if someone will go 5 years? Of course they will.
He’s in his prime for 1. And 2. He’s 30. He’s better than Realmuto. 5/120
Keep him,sign him, trade him-it doesn’t matter. The Cubs had a chance to have a dynasty but mucked it up with bad trades, over valuing ‘the core” and terrible drafting. Epstein quietly skipped town and the a-hole Ricketts only look at the team like a real estate purchase. They are screwing the loyal fan base because they know they’ll show up and buy the watered down pee they call beer and cheer on AAA castoffs like phenoms. This is McCaskey-Bears like ownership, milk a championship and hire inept front office people. Who gives a crap about catching for this horrible team-when was the last time the Cubs drafted anyone who can pitch? Sell the team, make your $ and go back to Nebraska.
The Jayson Heyward contract really miffed things up
I was having a good then you had to say Jason Heyward
Epstein sold Ricketts a bill of goods saying he was going to develop a farm system for a dynasty and then traded the good players in the system for overpriced Pitching to make the one World Series team. The Quintana debacle comes to mind right away. The Cubs Pitching problem wasn’t that they didn’t draft good P’s, It’s the fact that they never moved through the system or were traded for quick fixes. Hoyer did something smart and hired Hawkins and he hired good minor league instructors. Hawkins came from Cleveland and they always had great Pitching. The Cubs are now moving P’s up the chain and the results are obvious. They have the 7 pick in every round and from what I’ve heard should have the pick of any P they want because everyone is taking Hitters if he chooses to go that way. Plus whatever they can add through the deadline, I’m excited to see what he does. How many times in the Epstein era did you see the Cubs best P in A ball at age 27 because they never taught him anything.? Then came the TJ surgery. Things are working as they should now.
That is true but needs a cliff note added. Some of the trades the Cubs made were out of necessity, get something for a guy or risk losing him to waivers or the rule 5 draft.
The cubs kept trying to compete and the guys they drafted were not developing fast enough to help out in the major league team but had to be on the forty man roster, given in some situations, the cubs needed help now which meant not only did they have to trade for someone but also open up a 40 man roster slot.
The reason the Cubs were able to get candario in the Bryant deal is because candario was and is so far away from being major league ready but also had to be in the 40 man roster. Having candario on the 40 man roster for 2-3 more season was not a luxury the giants had.
What are you talking about? Bill of goods? They won the damn World Series! End of story.
5/$$90-$100M ballpark is where he will end up.
Since he “settled” for a contract well short of his desired amount,
Willson Contreras has come up with a unique way to make up the difference.
He is taking bids on the extra “L” in WILLSON !!
Contreras about to go to the padres along with Andrew Benintendi.
Now it’s time to extend him.
He’ll be a Giant by July 31st.
Who do the giants have that’s worthy of the cubs trading for him? It’s gonna take a minimum or 3 players with at least 2 being within their top 15 prospects.