The regular season approaches, and updates on extension talks have been minimal. Again, that’s applicable around the league, not just with respect to the Cubs.
Jesse Rogers was on ESPN 1000 with Waddle & Silvy, though, and provided as much of an update as we’re going to get right now. You can listen starting at the 12-ish minute mark here.
The headline is that Rogers believes extensions for Javy Báez and Anthony Rizzo will eventually get done. To be sure, he wasn’t REPORTING that deals are going to get done, but was simply sharing his informed perspective on what is likely to happen. I think a lot of us might guess the same, but it means a good bit more coming from someone plugged in like Rogers.
Moreover, Rogers notes that he doesn’t expect Báez or Rizzo to draw firm lines in the sand about cutting off talks at Opening Day. Báez had previously said he would be open to continuing negotiations into the season, though Rizzo seemed to suggest he was less into it. So this would seem to be a positive update, and it means we don’t necessarily have to presume things fell apart simply because Opening Day arrives with no deal. Indeed, Rogers suggested he thinks the talks will go past Opening Day before something gets done.
There was no significant conversation in the interview about Kris Bryant, which squares with the expectation that those extension talks either aren’t take place, or won’t get very far.