With a legitimate trade speculation looming in the background, three-time All-Star Kris Bryant on Friday avoided arbitration with the Cubs by agreeing to a one-year, $18.6 million contract.
It’s a 44 percent increase over his $12.9 million salary in 2019.
The Cubs also reached agreements on one-year deals with their five other arbitration-eligible players as well on deadline day for teams and eligible players exchanging salary figures.
Among those were All-Star shortstop Javy Baez ($10 million) and All-Star catcher Willson Contreras ($4.5 million) — two players who might yet be in line for multiyear extensions before the season starts.
Left fielder Kyle Schwarber ($7.01 million), center fielder Albert Almora ($1.575 million) and lefty reliever Kyle Ryan ($975,000) also agreed to terms.
While the Bryant deal settled one immediate question about his future, the next one involves who will be paying the $18.6 million by the time the season starts.
The Cubs have spent the entirety of a $2 billion free agency winter hibernating — one of only two teams that have not added a non-split, major-league contract to the roster.
Payroll budget issues have prevented spending without first moving contracts off the payroll.
Bryant’s has been the most obvious contract to move, given his potential trade value and reluctance so far to agree to a long-term extension within the terms the team is willing to meet.
Friday’s agreement not only assures the amount the Cubs might recoup with a trade but also provides a hard number to add to any potential trade talks.
The Cubs have been in a holding pattern on trade talks with Bryant until the market more fully develops after the last big-name free agent at the position, Josh Donaldson, is off the board. The Nationals, Twins and Braves all are linked to Donaldson.
Also in play, to a much smaller degree, is the pending decision in Bryant’s grievance against the Cubs over service-time manipulation — a decision most in the industry believe will favor the Cubs and MLB. If Bryant prevails, it would make him a free agent after this season — one year earlier than he would be eligible now.
Friday is the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players exchanging salary figures for potential arbitration hearings.
