The Chicago Cubs did not approach Justin Steele about a long-term contract extension during this arbitration cycle, the All-Star pitcher said Monday. However, that possibility could still be explored in the future.

Steele avoided a hearing against the Cubs by agreeing to a one-year, $6.55 million contract before last week’s filing deadline. The homegrown lefty remains under club control through 2027 and maintains optimism about the team’s trajectory.

“Since we agreed on the arbitration number, there haven’t been any further conversations,” Steele said on the “North Side Territory” podcast. “I’d imagine if that conversation’s going to be had, it’ll be during spring training.”

With less than a month to go until pitchers and catchers officially report to Arizona — and the Cubs’ offseason work still incomplete — here are some highlights from Steele’s wide-ranging conversation with The Athletic.

Kyle Tucker is a game-changer

The Cubs likely already made their signature offseason move by trading for Tucker, one of the most productive (and most underrated) players in baseball for several years running. Steele was pitching for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in 2017 when he noticed Tucker’s sweet left-handed swing in the Carolina League. A year later, Tucker jumped from High A to his major-league debut with the Houston Astros.

“I remember watching him play there, and I knew then the guy was going to be a stud,” Steele said.

“When you make a big splash, a big addition like Kyle Tucker, that just boosts the lineup tremendously right off the bat. It’s hard to imagine the WAR exactly, how much it increases the win total by adding one player. I really don’t know how all that works. It really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me (laughs). But in my mind, you add someone like Kyle Tucker to the middle of the lineup — with everything else that we already have — it’s hard to imagine that we’re not scoring more runs.

“When you’re pitching with a lead, you’re pitching a completely different game. You can just go out there and throw strikes. Just being able to pitch with a lead — that’s my initial thought. That’s very comforting. And then you look at how good he plays defense. You hear about how good of a teammate he is from other guys, the camaraderie it’s going to bring to the clubhouse. I’m really excited about it.”

The arbitration process can be ‘stressful’

Major League Baseball takes a centralized approach to arbitration, and Cubs executives delegate some of those responsibilities within the front office. Steele, for example, said he did not speak with Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer or general manager Carter Hawkins about his situation, and his agency, Wasserman, handled those negotiations. It’s all part of the game.

It was curious, though, to see the Cubs and Tucker’s camp exchange salary numbers rather than reach an agreement before the filing deadline. Tucker, who can become a free agent after this upcoming season, submitted $17.5 million while the Cubs filed at $15 million.

“The deadline was this past Thursday,” Steele said. “Wednesday was when they made their first call or conversation in regards to it. To me, that’s a little stressful. (Steele said this with a smile.) The entire offseason, I’m waiting for this. You have this date. Are there going to be any talks leading up to it? No, we’re going to do it the night before. We’ll give you a call to let you know where our head’s at. The next day, it picks up quite a bit.

“My agent, Sam Samardzija, is on the phone with them a good bit. He’s calling me. They’re going back and forth. The calls stayed between them, and then Sam would come to me if the number moved. It’s a good process. It hasn’t been too strenuous for me. I would say the only bad thing is the time leading up to that date — it’s hard not to think about it. And then literally the night before is when things finally start picking up.”

Ben Brown and Porter Hodge are making an impression

Young pitchers will be key if the Cubs are going to level up from 83 wins and become a playoff team. Steele, who has an Arizona home near the organization’s Mesa training complex, echoed what others in the organization have been saying about Brown and Hodge this offseason. If Brown stays healthy after last year’s neck injury, he has already shown flashes of being a top-of-the-rotation starter. And if Hodge continues his ascent after a strong rookie season, the Cubs may have an elite reliever.

“Ben Brown … that dude’s a horse,” Steele said.

“He’s in the weight room, doing the stuff that he would normally do. (We had) conversations when all that stuff was going on with his neck. When the player doesn’t really know what it is, it can affect you mentally. It makes you not want to do stuff because you don’t want to make it worse. Just to see him being the spring chicken that he is, doing the lifts, throwing with full effort, and having that personality that he always had, it’s just fun being around him. Watching him throw his bullpens and go through his work, you know the guy is going to be a stud if he gets a full season under his belt.

“Same thing with Porter Hodge. He was so good last year. And for him to come right into Arizona and get right to work immediately — he’s working his tail off every single day — it’s been fun to watch.

“I’m like the tiniest guy (out here) besides PCA (Pete Crow-Armstrong). You see Porter Hodge, you see Ben Brown, you see (Jameson Taillon), and they’re just like lifting the entire weight room. It makes me feel really small. When I go home to Mississippi, I always feel like I’m decently sized. And then when I come out here, I’m tiny compared to these guys.”

Sammy Sosa approaches the spotlight again

Steele was only a toddler during the home run chase of 1998 when Sosa and Mark McGwire pursued the single-season record and captivated fans across the country. But Steele can still anticipate what the reaction to Sosa will be at this weekend’s Cubs Convention.

Long estranged from the organization, Sosa was recently invited back to the annual event after releasing an open letter that acknowledged “mistakes” that “never broke any laws” during a baseball era marked by the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

As far as Cubs Conventions go, Sosa’s introduction might be the most electric moment at the Sheraton Grand Chicago since the World Series champs showed up in 2017 and got the rock star treatment.

“If they call him out on the stage, he has to do the Sammy hop across the stage,” Steele said. “I don’t know who his publicity team is, but that needs to get in his ear. Because the crowd would love that.

“My favorite number — and my family number — is 21. In high school, I was No. 21. My brother was 21 and he played college baseball. My dad played football at Alabama, he was 21. My grandfather played basketball at Southern Miss, he was 21. And then my great-grandfather, who served in the Korean War, he was a left-handed pitcher (on an armed forces team) who was No. 21. So 21 is a huge number in my family.

“When I got called up and got to Chicago, they asked, ‘What number do you want?’ I said, ‘Does anybody have 21?’ They were like, ‘No, nobody has 21, but people kind of stay away from it.’ I sat there for a second: ‘Oh, it probably should be retired.’ It kind of clicked for me: ‘Give me 35.’”

(Top photo of Justin Steele: Matt Marton / Imagn Images)