Cubs, Pete Crow-Armstrong reportedly agree to $115M extension: How the All-Star outfielder found his power

Crow-Armstrong had a tale of two seasons in 2025, but the young outfielder has plenty of raw talent

Mike Axisa

Mar 24, 2026

7:00 pm ET

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6 min read

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Five years ago, the Chicago Cubs stole Pete Crow-Armstrong away from the Mets in a three-player trade that, most notably, sent Javier Báez to New York for two months before free agency. The deal was part of Chicago's deadline sell-off that saw 2016 World Series champions Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant traded away in addition to Báez. A difficult time on the North Side, it was.

Now the Cubs are making sure Crow-Armstrong is part of their long-term future. The Cubs and Crow-Armstrong have agreed to a six-year, $115 million extension, according to ESPN. The deal runs from 2027-32 and doesn't include any option years. Crow-Armstrong was previously scheduled to hit free agency after the 2030 season.

Here are the largest contracts given to players five years away from free agency:

- Jackson Merrill: 9 years and $135 million (signed April 2025)

- Pete Crow-Armstrong: 6 years and $115 million (signed March 2026)

- Jacob Wilson: 7 years and $70 million (signed January 2026)

- Ke'Bryan Hayes: 8 years and $70 million (signed April 2022)

- Lawrence Butler: 7 years and $65.5 million (signed March 2025)

- Ezequiel Tovar: 7 years and $63.5 million (signed March 2024)

Crow-Armstrong, 24 on Wednesday, played his first full MLB season in 2025 and joined Sammy Sosa as the only 30-30 players in Cubs history while playing Gold Glove-winning defense in center field. He slashed .247/.287/.481 with 31 homers and 35 steals, and ranked fourth among all players with 21 outs above average defensively. It added up to a 5.4 WAR season and MVP votes.

Now that he's made the leap from exciting prospect to All-Star, the Cubs locked up Crow-Armstrong and made him the centerpiece of their roster moving forward. How did he get here? What does he have to do to get better? And what's next for the Cubs? Let's dig into all that now.

How PCA unlocked his power

The Gold Glove defense and stolen bases were expected. The power is what took Crow-Armstrong from good role player and No. 9 hitter to legitimate star. He'd never hit more than 20 home runs in a season in the minors before clubbing 31 in the majors last year. He showed off that power with a two-homer game in the World Baseball Classic earlier this month:

To get into his power, Crow-Armstrong adjusted his setup at the plate last season, specifically widening his feet and getting a little deeper into the box. His feet were 28.1 inches apart in 2024, per Statcast. In 2025, it was 33.7 inches, putting him in the top 25% of the league. That helped him move his intercept point (i.e. where the bat makes contact with the ball) up two inches, or about 33%.

OK, great, so what does that mean? In English, Crow-Armstrong is now catching the ball further out in front of the plate, to use an old baseball adage. That has allowed him to pull the ball in the air more -- his pulled fly ball rate went from 19.3% in 2024 (a tick higher than the 16.7% league average) all the way up to 30.2% in 2025. Here are the 2025 pulled fly ball rate leaders:

- Isaac Paredes: 38.5%

- Cal Raleigh: 38.4%

- Spencer Torkelson: 31.8%

- Max Muncy: 31.5%

- Kyle Schwarber: 31.1%

- José Ramírez: 30.9%

- Pete Crow-Armstrong: 30.9%

That's a pretty good list of names there. I know pulling the ball has a bit of a stigma because of the (now banned) infield shift, but it's the best way to hit for power. Last year, balls pulled in the air produced a .612 batting average and 1.329 slugging percentage. Crow-Armstrong began pulling the ball in the air at an elite rate last season and the home runs followed.

Gold Glove defense in center field would have gotten Crow-Armstrong paid no matter what, but without last year's power spike, his earning potential would have been capped. Defense pays only so much. Crow-Armstrong tweaked his setup at the plate, connected with the ball a split second sooner, and became a 31-homer player. That's what earned him this contract extension.

What he needs to do next

The power is there, the stolen bases are there, and the defense is there. The next hurdle for Crow-Armstrong is fine-tuning his plate discipline and being more selective. The man likes to swing, so much so that it's a detriment. Last season, he swung at 41.4% of pitches out of the zone, the fifth-highest rate in baseball and well above the 28.0% league average.

Crow-Armstrong's 2025 was a tale of two seasons. He hit .265/.302/.544 in the first half and only .216/.262/.372 in the second half. It's easy to think that, well, pitchers figured him out, and fed him pitches out of the zone and got him to chase. That's not really what happened, though. Crow-Armstrong had a lower chase rate in the second half (37.6%) than he did in the first half (43.