Cubs avoid arbitration with Kyle Hendricks

The deadline for teams and players to submit arbitration offers is noon CT, today.

That’s why we’re seeing a flurry of last-minute signings. Here’s another one by the Cubs:

The figure for Kyle Hendricks is quite a bit below the estimate I made last month, which was for $5 million. That’s a “savings” of $825,000. Every little bit of payroll savings helps, I’d say. Combine that with the estimated savings of $250,000 over the payroll guess I made for Justin Wilson, and that’s $1,075,000 of “extra” payroll the Cubs have available beyond my previous guesses.

Hendricks has been one of the most reliable members of the Cubs rotation for the last three seasons. He had a rough first half last year and missed some time with an injury, but after his return he was excellent: 2.19 ERA and 1.179 WHIP in 13 starts covering 78 innings, an average of exactly six innings per start. Those numbers are pretty close to his 2016 season, where he finished third in Cy Young voting and led the major leagues in ERA.

As noted by Carrie, four arb-eligible Cubs remain unsigned: Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Justin Grimm and Tommy La Stella. If I had to guess, I’d guess the latter two will sign today with the other two potentially going to arb hearings.