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Pete Crow-Armstrong’s growing trophy case has Cubs coming out ahead early in extension
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After turning down a contract extension before the 2025 season, Pete Crow-Armstrong bet on himself and responded with a breakout 30/30 campaign and a Gold Glove Award. This ultimately transformed what was initially reported as a $66-77 million extension into a $115 million deal just one year later.
Following the extension, Crow-Armstrong put together an impressive 2026 campaign, putting together a 40/40 season while leading the National League in home runs (45), OPS (.943), runs (119), extra-base hits (84) and WAR (9.8). He also earned his second consecutive Gold Glove in center field while also taking home the Platinum Glove, recognizing him as the best defensive player in the National League.
Beyond the defensive honors, Crow-Armstrong is also a finalist for both National League MVP, where he is considered a favorite, and a Silver Slugger Award. Adding potentially both accolades to his growing trophy case seems well within reach, and another round of hardware would only strengthen the Cubs’ case for extending him, as the team is already coming out ahead financially just one year into the deal.
Pete Crow-Armstrong’s growing trophy case reinforces why the Chicago Cubs extended him after one breakout season
In the future 2027 through 2029 seasons, Crow-Armstrong is locked in at an annual salary of $10.83 million. While that represents a significant jump from his 2026 earnings, it’s worth considering what he could have commanded through arbitration. The 2027 season would have marked his first year of arbitration eligibility, putting him in position to potentially challenge Cody Bellinger’s record $11.5 million salary for a first-year arbitration player, set in 2020. Bellinger earned that deal coming off a 2019 MVP campaign in which that same year he also captured a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award.
If Crow-Armstrong secures both the MVP and Silver Slugger awards, the parallels between him and Bellinger become hard to ignore. Much like Bellinger, PCA would have been entering arbitration with an impressive resume and commanding a salary well above the $10.83 million he is set to earn under his extension.
That makes the Cubs’ decision to lock him up look like an increasingly savvy business move. Chicago has secured cost certainty for the next three seasons while potentially keeping the salary of a perennial MVP candidate below what he could have earned through arbitration.
The post Pete Crow-Armstrong’s growing trophy case has Cubs coming out ahead early in extension appeared first on ChiCitySports.
