Report: Cubs, Jake Arrieta are talking potential six-year extension
Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta said recently that he isn't really concerned with his pending arbitration hearing, as he's confident his agent Scott Boras and the Chicago Cubs will reach an agreeable deal.
According to Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago, that settlement could be reached before the two sides' scheduled arbitration hearing next Tuesday.
Levine also suggests, meanwhile, is that Arrieta might be in line for the biggest raise in the history of pitchers in their second year of arbitration eligibility. Previously, David Price has that honor thanks to receiving a bump from $4.35 million in 2012 with the Tampa Rays to his 2013 salary of $10.1125.
Arrieta and Boras have requested $13 million, while the Cubs have countered with an offer of $7.5 million.
Perhaps most interestingly, Levine also reports that Arrieta's camp has "floated" the idea of a six-year contract extension with the Cubs that would effectively take care of the arbitration process and then some.
Levine quotes Arrieta as saying that a long-term extension is, "absolutely realistic" and that he and his family enjoy being in Chicago. "It is a possibility, and I would like to see where it goes," he added. "Maybe something will get done.”
If, however, he and the Cubs can agree only to a one-year deal for 2016, the concept of an extension would likely be something they'd continue to discuss in the future.
