PCA caps birthday week with press conference on record extension

CHICAGO – As fast as Pete Crow-Armstrong is on the bases and in center field, the speed at which Cubs fans have embraced the budding star has been just as spectacular. His jersey is easy to spot in the stands in every ballpark he visits and chants of his initials have traveled from Wrigley Field to the Tokyo Dome.

On Friday at the Friendly Confines, Crow-Armstrong showed his commitment to Chicago and reciprocated the overwhelming support in the form of a long-term extension. The six-year deal was officially announced on Opening Day Thursday, followed by a press conference to celebrate the pact the next afternoon.

“This city means everything to me,” Crow-Armstrong said. “They’ve been patient with me and my performance. That’s definitely inspiring stuff when I wake up and I think about what I want to achieve every day.”

It was quite the birthday week for Crow-Armstrong, who turned 24 years old on the eve of the season opener on Wednesday. Already under control through 2030, the center fielder’s deal will run through ‘32 and has a base value of $115 million, per sources. The contract is the largest ever (with no club options) for a player with five years of control remaining.

As Crow-Armstrong looked out at the crowd gathered in the second-floor press conference room in the Cubs’ offices, he saw plenty of faces from his baseball journey. His parents, Ashley Crow and Matt Armstrong, sat in the front row, alongside Crow-Armstrong’s team of representatives.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer called it a “full circle” moment, knowing Crow-Armstrong’s dad is a lifelong Cubs fan from Naperville, Ill. He convinced his son to root for the Cubs a few years before the franchise turned things around and won the ‘16 World Series. And as fate would have it, the Cubs eventually acquired Crow-Armstrong for Javier Báez, one of his favorite players.

"The fact that we ended up with this guy,” Hoyer said, “was the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people."

Cubs hitting coaches Dustin Kelly and John Mallee – with the outfielder from the Minor Leagues to the Majors – were on hand Friday. First baseman Michael Busch was in the room. Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts was in attendance, along with other high-ranking team officials. Cubs manager Craig Counsell looked on from behind the row of cameras, as did assistant general manager Jared Banner, who played a key role in convincing the Cubs to trade for Crow-Armstrong after coming to Chicago from the Mets’ front office.

“My hands are a little sweaty,” Crow-Armstrong said with a smile. “This is more nerve-racking than going out and standing in center field, for sure.”

With this day behind him, Crow-Armstrong can jog back out to center at Wrigley Field, where 40,000 will be behind him again on Saturday afternoon.

The deal not only gives Crow-Armstrong some security – allowing him to bypass the arbitration process and covering two years of free agency – but locks in one of baseball’s rising stars for the Cubs for the foreseeable future. In ‘25, Crow-Armstrong started in center for the National League All-Stars, picked up his first Gold Glove Award and was in the MVP conversation for a large portion of the season.

Crow-Armstrong made history along the way, becoming the fastest Cubs player to reach 30 homers and 30 steals in a season and ending as the only player in team history to add 30 doubles to a 30-30 campaign. He also set a Statcast-era record for an outfielder with 19 five-star catches (0-25% catch probability).

“It’s a gift to watch him play center field, run the bases,” Hoyer said. “He continues to strive every day to get better and so, when I think about making an investment in a person, it’s a really easy investment to make. And I couldn’t be happier to keep Pete in this uniform for a long time.”

Hoyer said the extension talks can be traced back to January ahead of the ‘25 season, but negotiations cooled during the season. Reports of the discussions came out last April and – while annoyed by incorrect information that was leaked – Crow-Armstrong went out and hit two homers at Dodger Stadium.

“It was more so being like, ‘I don’t want to miss this opportunity to make sure that I’m here,’” Crow-Armstrong said.

Negotiations picked up again over the offseason and gained momentum during Spring Training. Crow-Armstrong’s participation with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic delayed pushing the extension across the finish line until shortly before Opening Day.

“I don’t think there was ever going to be a time that wasn’t right to get this done,” Crow-Armstrong said. “There was never any pressure to get this done. Bottom line: They knew I wanted to be here. So with that, whenever this got done, it was going to be the right time.”

The Cubs have high hopes for the ‘26 season, but the deal with Crow-Armstrong shows the team is trying to sustain this period of winning.

Over the offseason, Chicago signed veteran Alex Bregman to a five-year, $175 million pact. In the wake of Opening Day on Thursday, news broke that the Cubs were also in agreement with second baseman Nico Hoerner on a six-year extension. Shortstop Dansby Swanson is signed through ‘29. The North Siders also have a younger core group in Busch, Cade Horton, Daniel Palencia and Matt Shaw, among others, under control for years to come.

“The nicest part about being able to go out and play now,” Crow-Armstrong said, “I get to look at Nico and be like, ‘We’re going to be doing this together for a long time now.’ Dansby. Breggy. Yes, getting to play [freely] is going to be really cool, but getting to play with certain people that I’ve gotten to build relationships with is going to be even cooler.”

And Crow-Armstrong is excited to keep strengthening his bond with the fan base.

In MLB’s latest list of top-selling jerseys, Crow-Armstrong checked in at No. 10 on the list and first among Cubs players. Kids gravitate towards the center fielder – both for his energetic style of play, but also because of his infectious and friendly personality.

“I feel like if I treat them well,” Crow-Armstrong said, “then they’re going to associate those kinds of memories when they think about baseball. They’re also the ones that are going to move this game forward.”