Heyman Reports Cubs Not Inclined to Extend Stroman Before Trade Deadline

So I guess the Cubs will be extending Stro in the very near future.  Cool!!

47 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Hoyer seems to employ a "wait and see" approach and has stated that the Cubs aren't interested in negotiating with a player during the season.

 

I know this isn't the first time we have heard that from Cubs management, but it is a dumb position regardless.  More often than not, I think they just use the "we don't negotiate with players mid-season" justification as cover for when they don't want to re-sign the guy anyway.  Otherwise, if you have a player that you would like to re-sign, it would be stupid not to try to do it.

They extended a player in-season about 2 months ago, so clearly there is no hard and fast rule about it.

It's not the only way to see it, but one interpretation that also fits the assumptions Heyman is making is:

•  Stroman has publicly jockeyed for an extension with language implying he wants specifically to be in Chicago
• The Cubs are the only team that can extend Stroman until the end of the season
• As a pitcher, and one who technically is under contract through 2024, there's more at risk with extending Stroman earlier in the year than later in the year
• We don't know how many teams will be really selling and therefore how strong offers might be for rentals at the deadline compared to recent years

So if we take all that as true, the only way it's a bad idea to wait until after the deadline to engage serious talks with Stroman is if that waiting somehow sours him on wanting to stay, which seems improbable unless that assumption about his interest in staying wasn't 100% true to begin with.  

All that said though, I'm not sure I see a huge amount of upside in that waiting, because even if deadline prices are higher this year than recent years, the odds of getting a package that makes you better in 2024 than just extending Stroman seems very low.

6 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Writing for The Athletic, Jon Heyman has reported that the Cubs are not pursuing an extension of Marcus Stroman before the trade deadline.

 

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Did you mean Ken Rosenthal?

1 hour ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Did you mean Ken Rosenthal?

Seriously.

*shakes head*

     I think I see it here from both sides. Obviously, Marcus likes it here and has been spot on this year as arguably one of our two best starters. Perhaps he is looking to make Wrigley his home until he is through. That will require millions of dollars and multiple years, simply a multi-year big money deal. Not that he isn't worth it.......now. The Cubs I think are gun shy on multi-year, big money deals. The Heyward and Soriano deals come to mind when they later turned into an albatross around the Cubs neck in their later years. He has quickly become a fan favorite, and when not pitching one of our biggest cheerleaders. He seems to be well-liked by his teammates as well as the front office. So the fan in me says "yeah, sign him, lock him up in Cubbie blue from now on." But then the pragmatic side says "wait, we got to be careful to not have a mediocre Marcus a few years down the road, unable to move because of his deal. Tough call for Jed here.

^^ I’m not sure an extension has any shot at Heyward/Soriano length. A 4 year deal gets him 10/5 rights the last year and basically pays him a little better than Darvish’s 6 year deal