MESA, Ariz. – It took until the last day of spring training, but the Cubs and pitcher Kyle Hendricks got in on the biggest trend in the game Tuesday, announcing a four-year $55.5 million extension through 2023 for the right-hander.
The deal, which also includes a $16 million club option for 2024, buys out his final year of arbitration and at least three potential years into free agency eligibility.
Hendricks, the 2016 major-league ERA champ, ranks fifth among active pitchers with at least 100 starts with a 3.07 career ERA – behind only Clayton Kershaw, Jacob deGrom, Chris Sale and Madison Bumgarner.
“He’s one of the most effective half-dozen starting pitchers in the game since he’s come up,” said team president Theo Epstein, who concluded a 14-month negotiating process he said was “dead” twice in that time.
“The names on that list are guys on Hall of Fame trajectories,” Epstein added. “So Kyle’s in rare air for what he’s done. But more importantly, we love the process that he uses to get there, and we think it bodes well for the future.”
Hendricks, who in 2016 beat Kershaw to clinch the Cubs’ first World Series berth since 1945 then started the Game 7 victory for the Cubs’ first championship in 108 years, said it wasn’t until recent days of talks that the sides reached a “middle space” contract number “where it felt right deep down to me.”
But, he added, “This was a life decision, not just a money decision. Everything [the Cubs] bring, the way the families are taken care of, my wife, bringing in Christine – just the support staff in general. If anything is ever needed, starting with Theo, I know he will try to make it happen. It’s a special circumstance to have in an organization.”
Christine Schwan is the yoga instructor Hendricks introduced to the organization after he incorporated the instruction as part of his training and preparation. After working part-time with the team last year, she was hired full time for 2019.
“I hear a lot of chatter from other teams,” said Hendricks, 29, who was acquired in a trade from Texas as a Class A pitcher in 2012. “Obviously, I haven’t been anywhere else [in the majors], but I know what I have here, and I’m comfortable here, and there’s nothing I’m missing. So why would I want anything else at the end of the day.
“So the money’s a big part of it,” he said, “but overall it’s a life decision, and there are a lot more people involved in it than me, including my family.”
Hendricks, who makes $7.405 million this season, makes $12 million in the first year of the extension, then $14 million each in 2021-23. The 2024 option vests if he finishes in the top three in Cy Young voting in 2020 and includes a $1.5 million buyout.
He can make as much as $2 million more in 2020 and as much as $3 million more in any of the other years of the contract based on escalators based on Cy Young finishes. He finished third in Cy Young voting in 2016.
After spending hours clearing his physical on Monday, Hendricks and the Cubs opted to skip Tuesday’s last scheduled spring start to instead
