NEWSLETTER
With three weeks to go in Spring Training, it almost feels like an entire story to say: yeah, still no extensions for the Chicago Cubs. Sometimes the lack of news is news.
I say that because, you’ll recall, there was this whole hullabaloo made about not wanting to negotiate extensions during Spring Training, and then some softening of that position once Spring Training actually started, and then … silence. We don’t know for sure that Nico Hoerner (three years of control left) and Ian Happ (one year of control left) were the only guys the Cubs were talking to about extensions at some point, but we know that everyone was aware those were at least two guys who were teed up for extensions. So those are the guys to whom we pay the most attention.
The urgency in each case is different, and you can make an argument that neither deal HAS TO happen this spring – Hoerner because he’s still got two years of arbitration left after this season and Happ because the Cubs have a wave of outfield talent on the way internally. But I can just as easily make the argument now is the time to get the right deal on Hoerner (where the risk and value propositions are both at the right level), and now is the right time to keep Happ around for a few more years (to keep a much-needed high-quality bat in place, and no put undue pressure on the outfield prospects to come up and succeed immediately).
But, whatever. I’m spinning my wheels, because today’s update is that there is no update.
For his part, Happ recently spoke with MLB.com about the situation and his main point was that he doesn’t want to think about free agency right now.
“There are always considerations there just for what the market looks like,” Happ said about the upcoming free agent market, “but right now, it’s about being here and being present every day, just trying to win. The other stuff takes care of itself.”
The desire to remain with the Cubs is still there.
“Chicago’s the place that is home for me and the only thing that I’ve ever known,” Happ told MLB.com. “As a player who’s only known this, you feel pretty at home in the organization and with the group. It would be weird to wear another jersey; I would love to stay here and I would love to be a part of the next great Cubs team, but we’ll see.”
