3 Chicago Cubs extension candidates not named Willson Contreras
Aside from catcher Willson Contreras, the Chicago Cubs should be looking to get contract extensions done with these three players.
The Chicago Cubs are off to a dismal start this season, at 11-19 and already eight games back in the NL Central entering action on May 13. Injuries have been a significant factor, and look to be a seller as the trade deadline inches closer.
An obvious trade candidate is catcher Willson Contreras, who is in his final year of team control with no traction on a contract extension going back what feels like forever. Contreras has also been very productive again so far this season, with a .304/.413/.522 slash-line in 25 games. The Cubs could get quite a trade return for him.
But let’s look the other direction, toward players who might be around on the North Side for awhile. Contreras is not in that mix, and at a glance it’s hard to see much of anyone who might be a key part of the next Cubs’ team that’s a genuine contender–whenever that is.
Looking beyond Contreras, since that ship has sailed barring something completely out of nowhere, these three Cubs could be contract extension candidates.
3 Chicago Cubs extension candidates not named Willson Contreras
3. Patrick Wisdom
A former first-round pick (by the St. Louis Cardinals back in 2012), Wisdom came out of nowhere for the Cubs last year, hitting 28 home runs and driving in 61 over 106 games (375 plate appearances) as he finished fourth in National League Rookie of the Year voting. He had 43 major league games on his resume before last year.
Things are not on the same pace so far this year, as Wisdom has five home runs over 105 plate appearances. But he’s striking out at almost the exact same rate as last year, and deeper batted ball metrics are in close proximity to last year too. One noted outlier is how much Wisdom is pulling the ball so far this year, or more specifically per Baseball Reference how much less he’s doing so thus far in 2022.
2021 Pull Rate: 40.5 percent
2022 Pull Rate: 29.1 percent
If there’s been a change in approach, it’s not changing anything for Wisdom. His batting average is almost the same too. A drop in home run rate so far can be chalked up to needing to see a larger sample, and he may heat up as the weather does.
Wisdom is not a high-end defender, but he has seen some innings at first base, in left field and in center field so far this season. Squint a little, ok a lot, and playing him at multiple positions ala Kris Bryant could part of the plan for the Cubs.
The Cubs will naturally say there’s no urgency to sign Wisdom to an extension, with four years of team control left (three years of arbitration eligibility). And in terms of a multi-year commitment, some might point to his age–he’ll turn 31 in August.
But Wisdom looks like he’ll be around for a few more years. Buying out his arbitration years, while giving him a raise and giving themselves cost certainty, could be on the Cubs’ radar.