MESA, Ariz. – On his walk from the Cubs’ hitting facility to the team’s clubhouse on a recent Arizona morning, Pete Crow-Armstrong was met by a group of six kids on the back patio of the complex. They scrambled over and lined up – a couple wearing his jersey – and the star center fielder stopped and signed autographs for each one.
Crow-Armstrong has quickly put himself in the face-of-the-franchise category, emerging as a favorite among Cubs fans young and old with his energetic play, headline-grabbing quotes and desire to help the North Siders recapture World Series glory. He is the kind of player organizations want to keep in the fold for a long time, and the Cubs are doing precisely that with their budding superstar.
On Tuesday evening, the Cubs and Crow-Armstrong agreed to a six-year, $115 million extension, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, keeping the center fielder as part of the team's core through the 2032 season. The club has not confirmed the contract, which is pending a physical. There are no options in the extension, which buys out his first two free-agent years and is the largest contract ever with no club options for a player with five years of control remaining. Escalators for 2031-32 could make the deal worth as much as $133 million, per source.
“Look, young, very talented players, you want them to be in your franchise for a long time,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said on Tuesday morning without specifically discussing the extension with Crow-Armstrong. “I think that’s every franchise’s goal.”
With the start of the season fast approaching, the team would likely officially announce this type of deal during the upcoming series against the Nationals in Chicago. Crow-Armstrong was not available for comment on Tuesday, when the Cubs were set to break camp and head back home.
With Crow-Armstrong’s 24th birthday looming on Wednesday – on the eve of Opening Day at Wrigley Field – this was a natural time for the sides to push toward getting a deal across the finish line. The Cubs engaged him in contract talks last spring, but the discussions were put to the side in the name of focusing on the season without distractions.
Coming off a season filled with historic footnotes, Crow-Armstrong serves as an anchor for Chicago’s strong defense and a sparkplug for the lineup. He played at an MVP-caliber level for much of last season, which ended with the Cubs punching their ticket to the playoffs with a 92-win campaign and coming within one win of the National League Division Series.
The expectations for both Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs are even higher in 2026.
“He’s an electric player,” Cubs veteran Ian Happ said on Tuesday. “He plays with an energy that the fans really appreciate. Major League Baseball is like, ‘What do the fans want? They want more stolen bases. More triples. Highlight plays.’ He is everything that the fans want and that the fans enjoy watching.
“And he feeds into that with the energy that he plays with on the field. It’s been really easy coming up as a top prospect for the fans to fall in love with him. And obviously, he loves Chicago and has really embraced that part of it.”
Crow-Armstrong finished last season with 31 homers, 37 doubles, four triples, 95 RBIs, 35 stolen bases and 91 runs scored. He was the fastest player in Cubs history to reach 30 home runs and 30 steals in a season, and the only player in Cubs history to add at least 30 doubles to the equation.
Offensively, it was a tale of two halves for Crow-Armstrong. He was one of three players in MLB history to have 25 homers and 25 steals in the first half, joining Eric Davis (1987) and Bobby Bonds (1973). The Cubs center fielder was the only player among that trio to have at least 70 RBIs as well.
Crow-Armstrong posted an .846 OPS in the first half, earning a place in the NL’s starting lineup for the All-Star Game and hearing his name included in early chatter about MVP contenders. After the break, however, he slumped to the tune of a .634 OPS while still offering elite-level defense.
In fact, Crow-Armstrong’s 19 five-star catches (0-25% catch probability) last year set a single-season record since Statcast has been tracking such plays. Billy Hamilton previously held the mark with 12 five-star catches in 2016. Crow-Armstrong’s 24 outs above average were the second most on record, trailing only Twins center fielder Byron Buxton’s 27 OAA in '17.
Crow-Armstrong came into camp this spring with the goal of being more consistent at the plate this season, and he expressed excitement over having star third baseman Alex Bregman now aboard to help with that part of his development.
“I think he’s just scratching the surface,” Bregman said on Tuesday morning. “He can change a game in so many different ways. He can help you win a baseball game defensively. He can help you win a baseball game on the bases. He can help you win a baseball game at the dish. He can change games, really.
“So to have a guy like that that can really go out there and put the team on his shoulders for a day is pretty special. And to be honest, just the excitement that he plays with is contagious for the rest of the group.”
The Cubs acquired Crow-Armstrong as part of the 2021 Trade Deadline that dismantled the previous core group that helped Chicago win the ‘16 World Series. The North Siders landed the center fielder as a prospect from the Mets in a deal for Javier Báez, who was one of Crow-Armstrong’s favorite players growing up.
Cubs fans loved to watch “El Mago” during his days on the North Side due to his defensive wizardry and dynamic offense. The fan base now has a similarly electric player in return in Crow-Armstrong, who has been serenaded with chants of “P-C-A!” in Wrigley Field and ballparks around the game.
Crow-Armstrong has repeatedly expressed his love for Chicago, its fans and the Cubs, making this extension a no-brainer for all parties involved. Perhaps no moment captured that better than when Crow-Armstrong caught the final out of the NL Wild Card-clinching win over the Padres and turned around to celebrate with fans in the bleachers.
“Being able to turn around every day for 81 games,” Crow-Armstrong said that night, “and actually see peoples’ faces and kind of see what they’re feeling and hear things they’re saying, I really do believe I have a relationship with every single one of them. It was only right that I shared that with them for a second.”