MESA, Ariz. – Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo did the quick math when he saw reports of the six-year, $43 million contract extension prospect Eloy Jimenez signed this week with the White Sox.
“He got a better deal than me without playing in the big leagues,” said Rizzo, whose deal with the Cubs six years ago in his first full year in the majors was very similar ($41 million, seven years).
“That’s amazing.”
Less than two hours after the words came out of Rizzo’s mouth, news broke of first baseman Paul Goldschmidt’s five-year, $130 million extension with the Cardinals, the seventh nine-figure contract agreement in the majors in the last month — fourth in a week.
Alex Bregman gets a five-year, $100 million extension with the Astros. Nolan Arenado gets eight years and $260 million from the Rockies. Never mind Mike Trout getting more than those two deals combined.
Hell, Mookie Betts reportedly turned down a $200 million extension offer from the Red Sox last year.
It’s almost enough to make a three-time All-Star first baseman for the Cubs wonder what his life – and portfolio – might look like if he’d waited before signing what turned into one of the more team-friendly deals in baseball.
“It definitely pops up [in your head], but it’s in and out quick,” Rizzo said of those thoughts when he sees these recent deals, “because at the end of the day you’re set.
“I might not be flying private jets every time I fly,” he added with a smile. “I might have to take just a first-class seat. But the next [contract] it will be the luxury life every time.”
Rizzo makes $12 million this year in the final guaranteed year of his contract, thanks in part to a $1 million escalator clause for two top-five MVP finishes. The Cubs have club options for each of the next two seasons.
That deal was signed within months of Starlin Castro signing a long-term extension with the Cubs, both deals completed within the first 19 months of Theo Epstein taking over baseball operations. Six years later, the only other multiyear extension the front office has been able to get done was a modest, two-year deal (plus option year) with reliever Pedro Strop.
Rizzo said he wants to finish his career as a Cub. But what an extension might look like – or even when – is anything but certain.
What’s clear to him is this: He has no regrets about signing a contract that became a below-market deal as soon as he made his first All-Star team in 2014, even as the game is awash this week in mind-numbing megadeal extensions.
“I had financial security early,” he said. “I was always able to play vs. left-handers, and you see guys now come up and it’s like they get six at-bats left-on-left and then they’re platooned.
“And I know the best is yet to come,” added Rizzo, 29. “I see all these mega signings. Maybe the length won’t be the 15-year or 13-year or 12-year deal. But the time will come where it all works out.”
Rizzo, who shared a spring training clubhouse with Jimenez before the Cubs traded the outfielder to the White Sox in the Jose Quintana trade in 2017, suggested the power-hitting Jimenez’s new deal will be good for him even if it turns out to be a steal for the Sox.
“Obviously, the White Sox believe in him, and he’s going to get to go out and play,” Rizzo said. “And that’s a good feeling as a player, knowing that you don’t have to be looking [over] your back, that you have the security.”
The deal already assures Jimenez no longer has to endure service-time manipulation to secure an additional year of club control so he can open the season in the big leagues.
It’s another reminder of why Rizzo doesn’t waste time looking back on what might have been with his own deal.
“It’s give and take. You don’t play Monday morning quarterback,” he said. “I’m very happy with when I signed it and how I played.”
Rizzo has an .864 OPS, two Gold Gloves and a World Series ring with the Cubs, almost all of that since signing his deal.
“I wanted to outperform my contract,” he said. “That was my goal, to be better than what my contract stated I was. And I think I’ve done that thus far and want to continue to do that.”
