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Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong Gets $100 Million Prediction After $75 Million News

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jon Conahan | Last updated May 7, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The Chicago Cubs attempted to get a deal done with Pete Crow-Armstrong over the past few months, with reports suggesting that the team was interested in giving him a $75 million deal pre-arbitration.

It's always tough to get a feel for where players stand before arbitration, but it's a smart idea to lock them up. For somebody like Crow-Armstrong, who has proven to be one of the top players in baseball over the early stages of the season, whether it stands or not, would be the perfect extension candidate.

However, the price has only gone up, and when he eventually hits free agency, the Cubs will have to give him a massive payday.

That could come before he’s arbitration-eligible in 2027, or before he hits free agency in 2031.

In a recent prediction from Jeff Passan of ESPN, he had him landing at least $100 million, adding that if he keeps up what he's done, he'll be in the $200 million category by the winter.

“Thus far, Crow-Armstrong has rejected entreaties from the Cubs regarding an extension. Chicago offered a deal in the $75 million range. If Crow-Armstrong keeps up even a reasonable facsimile of his production, he will vault into this $200 million category by this winter, and by the time he's a free agent after the 2030 season, it could be twice that. The only thing keeping him from it now, frankly, is plate discipline,” he wrote.

The Cubs will have to be smart here. Of course, they want to keep the Sherman Oaks, California native around, but giving him a $300-plus million deal pre-arbitration or something outrageous wouldn't make much sense.

$75 million seemed like a fair deal at the time, but he clearly expected more. Whether something gets done remains to be seen, but it's something to keep an eye on for Cubs fans.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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