You could put the negative or positive gloss on tonight’s decisions by the Chicago Cubs, but I’m more inclined – for now – to play it even keel. Nothing tonight was shocking, even as the Kyle Schwarber non-tender caught me off guard.
Among their arbitration-eligible players, the Cubs also non-tendered Albert Almora and Jose Martinez, as expected, and reliever Ryan Tepera, whose breakout early part of the season fell into some more mixed results later on. Even with an MVP vote, Tepera gets non-tendered.
That means everyone else was either tendered (and now they’ll do the whole arbitration salary thing), or signed a pre-tender deal. Per the Cubs announcement, relievers Dan Winkler and Kyle Ryan signed deals, as did swing-man Colin Rea. Per reports, Winkler gets $900,000, Rea gets $702,500, and Kyle Ryan gets a split deal that pays him $250,000 in the minors and $800,000 when he’s in the majors.
Otherwise, it’s standard tenders for Kris Bryant, Javy Báez, Ian Happ, Willson Contreras, and Victor Caratini. After the moves, the Cubs’ 40-man is down to 34.
Much more on all this stuff soon.