Apprently the Cubs had one last bit of business to take care of before the season started.
On Tuesday afternoon, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported that the Cubs and Kyle Hendricks had agreed to a 4-year extension:
Hendricks, who had one more year of arbitration left, will now be signed through the 2023 season, with an option for 2024:
Hendricks has been a mainstay in the Cubs' rotation since coming up in 2014. Over the last five seasons, the 29-year-old has pitched 789 innings while posting a 3.52 FIP, 1.11 WHIP with batters hitting .232 against him.
The move makes a ton of sense for both sides. This spring has seen a whole lot of players sign extensions with their current teams, and Hendricks -- who will make $7.4 million this season -- did well to get a sizeable raise. On the Cubs' end, locking up one of baseball's more reliable (and frankly, underrated) starters is a no-brainer. From 2014-2018, only 20 starters in all of baseball have been worth more wins above replacement than Hendricks (15.0) , with Cole Hamels technically being the only Cubs with more.
MLB
The deal also provides Chicago even more roster stability during this current window. Now, 4 of the 5 current Cubs' starters are locked up through the next two seasons.
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