PITTSBURGH _ President Theo Epstein and the Chicago Cubs have agreed on a five-year contract extension.
Epstein, who has overseen a mass rebuild of a franchise in serious contention to win its first World Series since 1908, and Chairman Tom Ricketts were scheduled to be in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night to announce the new deal.
"In the five years under Theo's leadership, he has brought in a strong executive team and acquired and developed some of the best players in the game," Ricketts said in a statement on Wednesday. "Now, the results are on the field. My family and I have no doubt that we have moved closer to our goal of delivering Cubs fans the World Series Championship they deserve."
Ricketts said the contract "ensures the baseball operations team assembled by Epstein will continue its remarkable tenure of building a consistent championship contender."
"Both on the baseball and business sides, I believe we have the best leadership in the league and we are well positioned for sustained success," Ricketts added.
Epstein was approaching the final month of a five-year, $18 million contract after leaving the Boston Red Sox, where he won two World Series.
Epstein and Ricketts stressed throughout the final year that an extension was inevitable, and Ricketts stressed this spring that Epstein deserved to be the highest-paid executive.
That could earn him up to $10 million annually, based on the five-year deal the Los Angeles Dodgers gave Andrew Friedman nearly two years ago.
It's expected that several high-ranking members of Epstein's cabinet will receive multi-year extensions.
