CHICAGO — The Cubs have a strong record of avoiding arbitration hearings, but have yet to close the book on the entirety of this offseason’s class of eligible players. The North Siders were unable to reach a deal with star outfielder Kyle Tucker ahead of Thursday’s deadline for exchanging proposed salary figures.
The Cubs did reach one-year deals to avoid arbitration with lefty Justin Steele, along with righty relievers Nate Pearson and Eli Morgan. Without a deal, Tucker exchanged numbers with the Cubs for an arbitration panel to assess at a later date, pending an agreement between the sides in the meantime. Teams can still negotiate with players leading up to the scheduled hearing.
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Dating back to 1980, the Cubs have reached the hearing stage only eight times (just three times since 1994). Most recently, outfielder Ian Happ went to a hearing with the Cubs in 2021 and won his case. That was the first arbitration win for a Cubs player via a hearing since Shawon Dunston in ’90.
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Here’s a breakdown of Thursday’s negotiations:
Tucker
Tucker’s camp proposed a $17.5 million salary for ’25, while the Cubs countered with $15 million, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The upcoming season is the outfielder’s final one under club control, positioning him to enter free agency next winter unless Chicago can convince him to sign an extension.
“I’m always open to talk and see where that leads,” Tucker said after being acquired by the Cubs in a trade with the Astros last month.
On Dec. 13, the North Siders reeled in Tucker from Houston in exchange for third baseman Isaac Paredes, righty Hayden Wesneski and Top 100 prospect Cam Smith. Chicago later cleared up its outfield logjam with a subsequent deal that sent Cody Bellinger to the Yankees, making Tucker and Seiya Suzuki the main right-field options for the Cubs.
Tucker, who will turn 28 on Jan. 17, was limited to 78 games last season due to injury, but still posted 4.7 bWAR and hit .289/.408/.585 with 23 homers, 49 RBIs and more walks (56) than strikeouts (54). He has put up 21.2 WAR with an .888 OPS combined across the last four seasons, in which he has made three All-Star teams, won a Gold Glove (’22) and finished fifth in American League MVP voting (’23).
Steele
Steele — under club control through the ’27 season — will earn $6.55 million this year, sources told MLB.com. The lefty is set to reprise his role as one of the leaders of the Cubs’ rotation and will be looking to build off last year’s injury-shortened campaign.
The 29-year-old Steele was limited to 134 2/3 innings and 24 starts last season, but still posted some remarkably similar numbers from the previous year. The lefty was an All-Star and placed fifth in National League Cy Young voting in ’23 after going 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA in 173 1/3 innings. Steele logged a 3.07 ERA last year with 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings (compared to 9.1 in ’23) and 0.8 homers allowed per nine (0.7 in ’23).
As things stand, Steele projects to be in a starting staff that also features lefty Shota Imanaga, righty Jameson Taillon, lefty Matthew Boyd and righty Javier Assad. The Cubs may still be in the market for additional rotation help this offseason, too.
Pearson
The Cubs and Pearson reached a one-year deal (worth $1.35 million, per sources) to avoid arbitration. The hard-throwing righty was acquired from the Blue Jays ahead of last year’s Trade Deadline and should be in line for some high-leverage work out of Chicago’s bullpen in ’25.
Pearson, 28, is under control for two more seasons. Last year, the right-hander was in the 96th percentile in average fastball velocity (97.7 mph), per Statcast. In 60 games overall in ’24, Pearson had a 4.48 ERA with a career-high 74 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings. In his 19 games with Chicago down the stretch, he turned in a 2.73 ERA with 23 strikeouts and four walks (26 1/3 innings).
Morgan
Morgan, who was acquired from the Guardians in November in exchange for outfield prospect Alfonsin Rosario, also reached a one-year deal to avoid arbitration ($950,000, per a source). The right-hander projects to be a part of Chicago’s bullpen after spending parts of the past four seasons in Cleveland’s relief corps.Last season, the 28-year-old Morgan posted a 1.93 ERA with 34 strikeouts and 11 walks in 32 appearances (42 innings) for the Guardians. He has a 3.97 ERA in 161 career games in the Majors, featuring a four-seamer, slider and plus changeup.
