The Cubs aren't done locking up their core. Second baseman Nico Hoerner and the Chicago Cubs have agreed to a six-year contract extension, Bleacher Nation's Michael Cerami first reported Thursday. ESPN's Jesse Rogers confirmed the deal is for six years. Financial terms have not yet been disclosed.
Hoerner, who turns 29 in May, was entering the final season of the three-year, $35 million extension he signed with the Cubs in March 2023. He was set to become a free agent after this year. The new deal is expected to begin in 2027, keeping Hoerner in Chicago through at least 2032 — which would mark 14 seasons in a Cubs uniform, one of the longest tenures in franchise history.
Why It Matters
This is the second major extension the Cubs have completed in less than a week, following Pete Crow-Armstrong's six-year, $115 million deal announced Monday. Combined with Alex Bregman's five-year, $175 million free agent signing in January and Dansby Swanson's existing deal through 2029, the Cubs have now locked up their entire core infield and center fielder through the end of the decade.
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal said earlier this week that the Hoerner extension would be the real test of whether the Cubs are serious about spending like a big-market team. That test has been answered.
Hoerner by the Numbers
Hoerner is coming off the best season of his career. He hit .297/.345/.394 in 2025 with 178 hits, 29 stolen bases, and a 4.8 fWAR that led all MLB second basemen. He won his second Gold Glove Award and ranked first among all second basemen in Fielding Run Value, Outs Above Average, and Runs Prevented. Dating back to 2022, Hoerner has been worth 17.4 fWAR across four seasons — never finishing below 3.8 in any of them — while hitting .284/.339/.389 with 123 stolen bases.
He doesn't hit for power (36 career home runs in seven seasons), but he doesn't need to. Hoerner's value comes from his elite contact approach — he ranked in the 99th percentile in both whiff rate and strikeout rate in 2025 — combined with his defense, baserunning, and the kind of clubhouse presence that's hard to quantify but impossible to replace.
This is a developing story. We'll update with financial details as they become available.