One of three arb-eligible Cubs has settled.
There were only two Cubs who were arbitration-eligible, Justin Steele and Javier Assad, before today’s deadline for players and teams to avoid having to exchange figures for an arb hearing. The trade for Edward Cabrera adds one more player to that list.
One of the three has now avoided arbitration:
Steele made $6.55 million in 2025 and, as you know, missed all but four starts last year due to Tommy John surgery. He likely misses a month or two of this year as well.
MLB Trade Rumors projected Steele to make the same amount in 2026, so this $6.775 million figure is just slightly above that, and seems reasonable. If Steele had pitched a full year in 2025 and done as well as he did in 2024, he’d likely have had a salary of $12 million (or possibly more) for 2026.
Here’s hoping Steele comes back strong, even if it’s for only part of 2026.
I will post info on the two other arb-eligible Cubs when it’s available.
Category: General Sports
