The Chicago Cubs had the opportunity to extend Anthony Rizzo before Opening Day, but it doesn’t seem like they pounced on the opportunity whatsoever. Their star first baseman isn’t too happy about, it either.
The Cubs have three big free agents at the end of the 2021 season: Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Rizzo.
Bryant has been in the middle of trade talks with numerous teams so Chicago clearly isn’t working to extend him. Baez has expressed that he wants to remain with the Cubs but there hasn’t been much traction this winter on an extension, either.
The player that was the likeliest to ink a long-term deal was Rizzo. The 31-year-old is a fan-favorite and has been one of the best first basemen in the league ever since he arrived in Chicago. Additionally, he has been responsible for instrumental work with this foundation.
But general manager Jed Hoyer doesn’t seem too interested in locking up Rizzo before Opening Day, which was his unofficial deadline.
“It doesn’t look like at this time anything is going to be finalized,” Rizzo said on Monday when speaking with reporters. “With [the] Opening Day deadline, we feel really strong about it. We’ve had enough time to talk and figure it out. I’ve told my agents not to talk to me about it anymore.”
Most players that are extension candidates like to put pressure on teams by setting an Opening Day deadline. After all, they don’t want the extension talks to be a distraction to the team. Rizzo did this to a degree, saying he now has “clarity” and can just focus on baseball. Still, he is willing to talk if someone comes to him with a better offer.
Rizzo appears disappointed in the Cubs for not more aggressively pursuing a long-term extension. With this in mind, he quite possibly has his sights set on determining his real value on the open market.
Should the Cubs have capitalized on the time that they had at Spring Training to hammer out a contract for their All-Star first baseman? Yes. But the odds are still pretty good that they bring back at least one of Baez or Rizzo.
Whether that’s before free agency, nobody knows. But it’s certainly a story to keep an eye on.
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