The Chicago Cubs avoided having to go to an arbitration hearing on Tuesday, as they agreed to a 10.2 million dollar deal. This is well deserved for the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. After a sub 2.00 ERA season, he had to get a raise over the six million or so he got last year.
This is a short term solution for the Cubs, as they are trying to lock him up to a long term deal before he hits the free agent market. A big problem is that Arrieta's agent is Scott Boras, one of the toughest agents to deal with when it comes to his clients. This will be no different. To be honest, I have no idea what he's trying to get for Arrieta. My guess would be that he is going to try to command Zack Grienke type money. Which would be over 200 million dollars.
A big question would be if the Cubs could afford that type of investment. The problem is, they can't afford not to get him to return to the Cubs. If they did that, their starting rotation would be a very thin group. Perhaps that is the reason that the Cubs did not chase after a David Price or another high priced pitcher. Instead, they spent a bunch of money on position players like Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist. I think they can afford the investment in Arrieta, and I think that it will happen almost for sure. But, they have to worry about this next season as the World Series favorites, as Spring Training starts in a couple of weeks in late February. Arrieta and company will get ready for the World Series run.
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