Cubs have taken ‘first steps' on contract extensions

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The wheels are in motion — at least in earnest — on contract extension talks between the Cubs and core players on their roster.

“We’ve taken the first steps,” Cubs president Jed Hoyer said Monday when asked about extension talks with Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ.

“Certainly, there are players that we'd love to keep in a Cubs uniform for a long time,” Hoyer added. “And hopefully we can work hard on those and get some across the finish line.”

The Cubs whiffed in that area with several players at the end of their last contention cycle, the COVID-19 pandemic playing a role.

Hoerner and Happ are two of the most obvious extension candidates this winter following impressive 2022 campaigns. (Willson Contreras has not heard anything and the Cubs plan to tender him a qualifying offer).

Happ is under club control through 2023 and coming off his first All-Star season, and after years of extreme highs and lows offensively maintained consistent production throughout the season.

Defensively, he had a Gold Glove-caliber season in left field after getting to focus on one position.

Hoerner, who’s under club control through 2025, emerged as a building block in 2022, answering questions about his ability to stay on the field and play an everyday shortstop while having a good season at the plate.

He's arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter.

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