Sources: Cubs, Crow-Armstrong finalizing deal

Sources: Cubs, Crow-Armstrong finalizing deal

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Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Chicago Cubs are finalizing a long-term contract extension, sources told ESPN on Monday, locking up one of the breakout stars of last season after he won a Gold Glove and posted the team's first 30-30 season in three decades.

Crow-Armstrong, who turns 24 on Wednesday, cemented himself as the best defensive center fielder in baseball last season and was strong offensively in his first full major league season, prompting Chicago to pursue an extension over the winter.

Crow-Armstrong's ascent to the All-Star Game last year and inclusion on the United States' World Baseball Classic roster this year came after a season in which he led the majors in outs above average and also proved himself plenty capable at the plate.

His first half was especially impressive, as he hit .265/.302/.544 with 25 home runs and 27 stolen bases. Though Crow-Armstrong struggled in the second half, with only six home runs, eight steals and a .216/.262/.372 slash line, his MVP-caliber talent convinced the Cubs that the second half was more anomalous than the first.

Known as PCA, Crow-Armstrong was a first-round pick by the New York Mets in 2020 out of Los Angeles' Harvard-Westlake, one of the best high school programs in the country. Barely a year later, desperate to upgrade at the trade deadline, the Mets dealt Crow-Armstrong to the Cubs for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams.

Almost immediately, New York regretted the deal. Crow-Armstrong thrived at both levels of Class A in his first full minor league season in 2023 and made it to the big leagues as a September call-up the next year.

Though he showed flashes of stardom in 2024, Crow-Armstrong's power didn't materialize until 2025, when he doubled 37 times in addition to his 31 home runs and 35 stolen bases, giving the Cubs their first 30-30 season since Sammy Sosa in 1995.

The questions about Crow-Armstrong's offense have as much to do with plate discipline as anything. His .287 on-base percentage was in the bottom 10% of qualified hitters last season, and he struck out 155 times compared to 29 walks. Though others with similar strikeout-to-walk ratios have carved out long and successful major league careers -- Salvador Perez, Teoscar Hernandez and Baez qualify -- improvement by Crow-Armstrong would go a long way to fulfilling his potential. Crow-Armstrong has said that has been a singular focus of his this spring.

And the potential is quite high considering that even with that on-base percentage, Crow-Armstrong posted 6.0 Baseball-Reference wins above replacement last year. Much of that is owed to his superlative glove and arm in center field as well as his high-quality baserunning, with elite sprint speed and top-notch instincts on the basepaths.

Chicago, which last year went 92-70 and lost to National League Central champion Milwaukee in the division series after beating San Diego in the wild-card series, is the favorite to win the division after signing Alex Bregman, trading for right-hander Edward Cabrera and fortifying its bullpen over the winter.