{"id":26135,"date":"2025-01-14T13:13:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T13:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=26135"},"modified":"2025-01-14T13:13:31","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T13:13:31","slug":"cubs-justin-steele-on-kyle-tucker-contract-talks-and-sammy-sosas-convention-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=26135","title":{"rendered":"Cubs\u2019 Justin Steele on Kyle Tucker, contract talks and Sammy Sosa\u2019s Convention return"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Cubs\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

Steele avoided a hearing against the Cubs by agreeing to a one-year, $6.55 million contract before last week\u2019s filing deadline. The homegrown lefty remains under club control through 2027 and maintains optimism about the team\u2019s trajectory.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince we agreed on the arbitration number, there haven\u2019t been any further conversations,\u201d Steele said on the \u201cNorth Side Territory\u201d podcast. \u201cI\u2019d imagine if that conversation\u2019s going to be had, it\u2019ll be during spring training.\u201d<\/p>\n

With less than a month to go until pitchers and catchers officially report to Arizona \u2014 and the Cubs\u2019 offseason work still incomplete \u2014 here are some highlights from Steele\u2019s wide-ranging conversation with The Athletic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Kyle Tucker is a game-changer<\/h2>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/b>I remember watching him play there, and I knew then the guy was going to be a stud,\u201d Steele said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you make a big splash, a big addition like Kyle Tucker, that just boosts the lineup tremendously right off the bat. It\u2019s hard to imagine the WAR exactly, how much it increases the win total by adding one player. I really don\u2019t know how all that works. It really doesn\u2019t make a whole lot of sense to me (laughs<\/em>). But in my mind, you add someone like Kyle Tucker to the middle of the lineup \u2014 with everything else that we already have \u2014 it\u2019s hard to imagine that we\u2019re not scoring more runs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re pitching with a lead, you\u2019re pitching a completely different game. You can just go out there and throw strikes. Just being able to pitch with a lead \u2014 that\u2019s my initial thought. That\u2019s 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\u2019s going to bring to the clubhouse. I\u2019m really excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The arbitration process can be \u2018stressful\u2019<\/h2>\n

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\u2019s all part of the game.<\/p>\n

It was curious, though, to see the Cubs and Tucker\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deadline was this past Thursday,\u201d Steele said. \u201cWednesday was when they made their first call or conversation in regards to it. To me, that\u2019s a little stressful. (Steele said this with a smile.<\/em>) The entire offseason, I\u2019m waiting for this. You have this date. Are there going to be any talks leading up to it? No, we\u2019re going to do it the night before. We\u2019ll give you a call to let you know where our head\u2019s at. The next day, it picks up quite a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy agent, Sam Samardzija, is on the phone with them a good bit. He\u2019s calling me. They\u2019re going back and forth. The calls stayed between them, and then Sam would come to me if the number moved. It\u2019s a good process. It hasn\u2019t been too strenuous for me. I would say the only bad thing is the time leading up to that date \u2014 it\u2019s hard not to think about it. And then literally the night before is when things finally start picking up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Brown and Porter Hodge are making an impression<\/h2>\n

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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\n
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\"Cubs\u2019<\/p>\n

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Porter Hodge had a 1.88 ERA and recorded nine saves in 39 games as a rookie last year. (Kamil Krzaczynski \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cBen Brown \u2026 that dude\u2019s a horse,\u201d Steele said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 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\u2019t really know what it is, it can affect you mentally. It makes you not want to do stuff because you don\u2019t 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cSame thing with Porter Hodge. He was so good last year. And for him to come right into Arizona and get right to work immediately \u2014 he\u2019s working his tail off every single day \u2014 it\u2019s been fun to watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 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\u2019re just like lifting the entire weight room. It makes me feel really small. When I go home to Mississippi, I always feel like I\u2019m decently sized. And then when I come out here, I\u2019m tiny compared to these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sammy Sosa approaches the spotlight again<\/h2>\n

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\u2019s Cubs Convention.<\/p>\n

Long estranged from the organization, Sosa was recently invited back to the annual event after releasing an open letter that acknowledged \u201cmistakes\u201d that \u201cnever broke any laws\u201d during a baseball era marked by the use of performance-enhancing drugs.<\/p>\n

As far as Cubs Conventions go, Sosa\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they call him out on the stage, he has to do the Sammy hop across the stage,\u201d Steele said. \u201cI don\u2019t know who his publicity team is, but that needs to get in his ear. Because the crowd would love that.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite number \u2014 and my family number \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got called up and got to Chicago, they asked, \u2018What number do you want?\u2019 I said, \u2018Does anybody have 21?\u2019 They were like, \u2018No, nobody has 21, but people kind of stay away from it.\u2019 I sat there for a second: \u2018Oh, it probably should be retired.\u2019 It kind of clicked for me: \u2018Give me 35.’\u201d<\/p>\n

(Top photo of Justin Steele: Matt Marton \/ Imagn Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In these highlights from Steele’s interview, he touches on negotiations, his impressions of Tucker and other teammates and Sosa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[282],"class_list":["post-26135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs"],"yoast_head":"\nCubs\u2019 Justin Steele on Kyle Tucker, contract talks and Sammy Sosa\u2019s Convention return - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=26135\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cubs\u2019 Justin Steele on Kyle Tucker, contract talks and Sammy Sosa\u2019s Convention return - 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