(670 The Score) Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong's breakout performance has been one of the biggest stories in all of baseball this season.
Entering play Tuesday, the 23-year-old Crow-Armstrong was the National League leader in WAR and is an early MVP candidate. He’s hitting .282 with 12 home runs, 38 RBIs, 36 runs, 14 stolen bases and an .886 OPS in 48 games.
The Cubs previously approached Crow-Armstrong and his agency in an attempt to sign him to a long-term contract, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said on the Mully & Haugh Show on Tuesday morning, but those talks didn't get far.
Hoyer didn't reveal many details, but he indicated the club will look to revisit such talks at a later time. Crow-Armstrong is under contract control through 2030 and isn't even yet arbitration-eligible.
“We think the world of him,” Hoyer said. “And there’s so many things to like, not only about the way he plays the game but how he is as a teammate, how he interacts as a young player. So, we’d love to sign him long-term. Obviously, those conversations in-season are delicate. It’s something that I’m sure at some point, we will revisit. But right now, we’re letting him focus on the season.
“He’s beating you in so many different ways. His defense is just incredible, obviously he can beat you with power right now, he gets a single and he beats you on the bases. When Javy (Baez) was at his prime in 2018 or so, there’s a lot of ways he can help you win a game on a given night. It might be with his glove, it might be with great baserunning, it might be with power, but he does a lot of things on the field that you can’t teach, a lot of things that don’t show up on the box score. Just a lot of ways he can help you win games, and he’s done that a lot this year.”
The Cubs and Marlins will play the second game of their series Tuesday in Miami. First pitch is set for 5:40 p.m. CT. Pregame coverage starts at 5:05 p.m. on 670 The Score and the Audacy app.