After posting the first 30-30 season for the Chicago Cubs since 1995, Pete Crow-Armstrong and the club are finalizing a multi-year extension on Tuesday.
Chicago had previously tried to sign PCA to a long term deal at the end of Spring Training in 2025, but were unable to land on a figure both sides were comfortable with. Fast forward 12 months later and Crow-Armstrong’s patience will be rewarded after posting a 31 HR, 35 SB season where he drove in 95 runs and scored 91 himself.
The soon to be 24 year old earned himself a Gold Glove for his stellar play in centre field last season where he led the majors in outs above average. His strong defensive play and breakout season at the plate resulted in an inclusion on the USA World Baseball Classic roster this month as well.
Originally drafted in the first round by the New York Mets in 2020 out of Harvard-Westlake High School, Crow-Armstrong was acquired by Chicago a year later at the trade deadline in exchange for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams. Now he figures to be a permanent fixture in Wrigley Field’s outfield for years to come.
The one area that the Cubs would probably want PCA to take another step forward with in 2026 is his plate discipline. With 155 Ks compared to just 29 walks, Crow-Armstrong ranked in the bottom 10% of qualified hitters in terms of on base percentage. That became particularly egregious in the latter stages of the season last year where he posted a .188/.237/.295 slash-line over his final 200 trips to the plate.
As a result, PCA went from a potential NL MVP candidate in July (27 homers with a .272/.309/.559 slash-line) to finishing 9th in voting at season’s end. Nevertheless, with the first 30-30 season since Sammy Sosa, few will make the case that PCA’s 2025 MLB campaign was anything other than a massive step forward for the young slugger.
While the club has yet to confirm the exact figures of the deal, Bob Nightengale has reported that it will be for “$100M plus” and will likely be the 2nd highest paid player on Chicago’s roster trailing only Alex Bregman. Despite being 5 years away from hitting free agency, PCA would have qualified for early arbitration next offseason as a Super Two player.
Jackson Merrill’s 9 year, $135M extension with San Diego last year is good comparable in terms of what Cubs fans can expect to see when the deal is formally announced. According to previous reports, Chicago had offered Crow-Armstrong $66M last spring, meaning that by turning down the guaranteed money, he’s likely doubled his payday merely a year later.
Chicago is set to open their 2026 MLB campaign at home against the Washington Nationals on Thursday March 26th.
Photo: Minda Haas Kuhlmann. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.