Cubs, Kyle Hendricks Agree to Extension
Cubs sign RHP Kyle Hendricks to a contract extension that runs through 2023 with a vesting option that could become a club option for 2024.
After years of trying and being unable to sign members of their young core to contract extensions, the Cubs finally inked one of their core pieces. News broke Tuesday afternoon that the Cubs have signed Kyle Hendricks to a 4-year $55.5M contract extension that runs from 2020 thru 2023. The deal also includes a vesting option that will vest if Hendricks finishes in the top 5 in Cy Young voting in 2020, according the Jeff Passan. If the option does not vest, it turns into a club option. The deal also includes escalators based on Cy Young finishes and the deal can max out at $79.5M.
The contracts breakdown is as follows…
2019: $7.405M (The figure he agreed to to avoid arbitration earlier this Winter)
2020: $12M
2021–2023: $14M
2024: $16M vesting option or a $1.5M buyout
Deal also includes a suite on the road, according to Gordon Wittenmeyer.
This is a very nice deal for the Cubs and for Kyle Hendricks. With the instability of the free agent market the last two offseasons, Hendricks gets the financial security that he desired and the Cubs lock up one of their key pieces to their starting rotation at a club-friendly rate. Last season, Hendricks went 14–11 with a 3.44 ERA in 33 starts and 199 innings. After struggling to start the season, Hendricks pitched to a 2.84 ERA and only giving up 5 home runs after the all-star break.
Hendricks has quietly been one of the best and most consistent starting pitchers in the game since bursting onto the scene in 2014. Hendricks ranks in the top 10 in ERA over the course of the last few years with the likes of Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Jacob DeGrom, Madison Bumgarner, etc. Hendricks was the 2016 ERA leader and finished 2nd in Cy Young voting to Max Scherzer when he went 16–8 with a 2.13 ERA and helped lead the Cubs to their first World Series win in 108 years.
Hendricks also boasts a 2.98 ERA in 51 1/3 innings in the postseason. He put his name on the map in Game 6 of the 2016 NLCS against the Dodgers going 7 1/3 innings and only allowing 2 hits to send the Cubs to their first World Series since 1945. If the Cubs wanted to get back to and win another World Series and extend their championship window, Kyle Hendricks was someone that they needed to keep in the fold and they finally got it done.
Now that the pressure is off and his new deal is in Look for Kyle Hendricks to have a strong 2019 and beyond. Hendricks will likely make his first start of 2019 against the Atlanta Braves.
Stephen Sciaraffa is currently a graduate student at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. Born in Chicago, Stephen spends his free time following the Cubs and taking in games at beautiful Wrigley Field with his dad. You can add him on twitter here
