The Chicago Cubs announced today that they reached a deal with right-hander Kyle Hendricks, agreeing on a four-year contract extension with a team option for 2024. Hendricks was already on a contract worth $7.405 million for this year, and according to Jesse Rogers, Kyle will earn $63 million before the club option.
Hendricks extension with #Cubs is four years, $55.595M, according to a source. Includes club option for fifth season as well.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 26, 2019
Breakdown on Hendricks, per source.
2019: $7.405M.
2020: $12M.
2021: $14M.
2022: $14M.
2023: $14M.
2024: $16M vesting option or $1.5M buyout.Option vests based on Cy finish in 2020. NOT a club option.
Deal also includes $3M per season in Cy escalators. Can max out at $79.8M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 26, 2019
Additionally, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the team option will be activated if Hendricks is in the top three in Cy Young voting in 2020, and it would be for $16 million including a $1.5 million buyout.
Kyle Hendricks' 2024 option will vest if he finishes in the top 3 in Cy Young voting in 2020, a source tells ESPN. If not, it turns into a club option. The option will be for $16M and includes a $1.5M buyout.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 26, 2019
Hendricks finished last season with the 14-11 record and a 3.44 ERA in a career-high 199 innings and 33 starts. The 29-year-old pitcher is quite unorthodox considering today’s pitching world, as his fastball is actually one of the slowest in the MLB. Thanks to a devastating changeup and control of the ball, Kyle recorded the lowest ERA (2.13) in the league in 2016, the year the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. That year, Hendricks had a 16-8 record and finished third in Cy Young voting.
“Hopefully, watching the way I pitch and get guys out will relate to a lot of younger pitchers,” Hendricks said Tuesday. “It’s not always about velocity but about the way you go about getting guys out at the major league level.”
“Early on it’s easy to put ceilings on guys, based mostly on velocity,” Cubs president Theo Epstein said Tuesday. “He’s far exceeded that ceiling. We love the process that he uses to get to where he is. He’s always working.”
The former Dartmouth College pitcher was an 8th round pick back in the 2011 draft and was selected by the Texas Rangers but in 2012, Texas traded him to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Ryan Dempster. This will be Hendricks sixth season with Chicago and so far in his career, he has the 52-33 record with a 3.07 ERA, 186 walks, and 668 strikeouts.
