The Chicago Cubs and second baseman Nico Hoerner have come to terms on a 6 year extension which is pending the results of a physical.
Hoerner, who was slated to hit free agency at the end of the 2026 season, will now be tied to the franchise through his age 35 season. His previous deal, a 3 year, $35M extension signed prior to 2024 is set to expire this winter. Financial aspects of the new agreement have not yet been announced publicly.
The 28 year old led all second basemen in fWAR last season, hitting .297 with seven home runs, 29 steals and 61 RBIs. He also provided strong defensive metrics as well, winning a Gold Glove for his efforts.
It’s the second major extension handed out by Chicago brass in less than a week. A few days prior, the club inked outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong to a 6 year extension. A few months prior, Chicago signed infielder Alex Bregman to a 5 year deal in free agency, which, when coupled with the extensions inked this week, make the Cubs one of the biggest spenders of the offseason.
“I think Nico can grow,” manager Craig Counsell said prior to Opening Day. “I’m optimistic he’s going to be better. He has the ability to drive the ball a little more. I think that’s ready to show up.”
With Bregman, Crow-Armstrong, Dansby Swanson and Hoerner now all under long term deals, Chicago has the core of their positional players signed through at least 2029 moving forward. That’s important because this upcoming offseason could be a pivotal one for the franchise.
Depending on how things play out in 2026, the Cubs could be in for another expensive winter, or could be looking at a complete overhaul of their roster.
Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Hoby Milner, Dylan Carlson, Michael Conforto, and Tyler Austin are all impending free agents. Couple that with the fact that Matthew Boyd, Hunter Harvey, Carson Kelly, and Caleb Thielbar all have mutual options in their deals for 2027 (which are rarely picked up), and Chicago is staring down the barrel of some important decisions in the near future.
The long term deals to both Bregman and Hoerner also impact Matt Shaw who appeared initially to be shifting to the outfield on a part time basis, but could now be looking at either a trade or a more permanent deployment in the grass.
For now however Chicago will turn their attention to rebounding from their 10-4 Opening Day loss to the Washington Nationals as the teams will continue their 3 game series on Saturday at 2:20pm ET.
Photo: Marquees Calaway. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.