The Cubs offered Petecrow a bag...with three big holes in it

The Cubs finally had contract extension talks with their stud outfielder last week. Oh, no, it wasn't that stud outfielder. It wasn't actual star Kyle Tucker, it was his outfield neighbor, the really cool centerfielder who so far has been able to do everything in the big leagues, except hit.

According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, the Cubs and Petecrow Armstrong had discussions on a five year contract extension. Like most Cubs' contract talks, they went nowhere and no deal was reached, and there's no reason to believe that there's any momentum towards a deal.

How fun.

Feinsand reported that the deal was believed to be worth $75 million. So, six years, at an average of $12.5 million a piece through 2031, would buy out Petecrow's non-arb and arbitration years and his first year of free agency. That seems like something that a guy hitting .197/.264/.258 and striking out in nearly a quarter of his at bats might want to sign.

But...

You knew there was a but. The report says the money wasn't all guaranteed and there were option years included. It makes sense for the Cubs to structure it with options, considering Petecrow's early season struggles, are the norm for him, not the exception.

We all made a big deal out of the adjustments Petecrow made in the second half last season. What we saw for a nice stretch was just how incredibly good he'll be when he puts it all together. In August last year, for example, Petecrow slashed .314/.375/.558 with four homers, 17 RBI, eight walks and six stolen bases.

You add in the fact that right now, at just three weeks past his 23rd birthday, he's the best defensive outfielder in the game, and brother, you got a superstar on your hands.

Granted, Petecrow was not able to sustain those gawdy numbers in September, where he slumped to .256/.299/.378 and struck out 30 times in 90 at bats.

That August is the only good month he's had offensively so far in the big leagues.

His career slash line is .223/.279/.354.

If you subtract last August it drops to .202/.241/.306. He's played in eight different months in his career, we can probably just forget his first month, since El Baldo--David Ross--had no idea how to use Petecrow in September 2023. He's been mostly unproductive offensively in seven of them.

The talent is clearly there. Last night he came into the series finale against the Dodgers with just 17 total bases in 17 games, and he hit two homers and a triple for 11 total bases in that game alone.

Given his age and those obvious talents, the bet is still that Petecrow figures it out and becomes not just a good player, but a really good one. That would be why the Cubs tried to lock him up to what obviously would have been a team-friendly deal, given that they put at least two and maybe three escape hatches in it for themselves.

So if you wonder why an unproven hitter would turn down $12.5 million a year for six years, or why a team would offer an unproven hitter that much, it's because that wasn't the offer at all.

The Cubs had a very fun series in Los Angeles. They won two of three. And, on Saturday they bludgeoned the Dodgers 16-0, handing the "greatest team ever assembled" the most lopsided shutout loss in their franchise history. And they did almost all of their damage after the sixth inning, as only Michael Busch did anything off of Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki. Busch had two of the Cubs three hits off of him, including a solo homer for the only run Sasaki allowed. Granted, if not for a leaping grand slam robbery by Andy Pages, Busch would have driven in five runs off of Roki.