Cubs sign Kyle Hendricks to extension through 2023 with vesting option for 2024

The Cubs have signed right-handed starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks to an extension through 2023 with a $16 million vesting option (based on his finish in Cy Young voting next season) for 2024, as the team announced at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. The deal guarantees him $55.5 million from 2020-23 and maxes out at $79.8 million, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal:

Hendricks, who is making $7.4 million this season, was scheduled to have one more year of arbitration in 2020 before hitting free agency following next season. Instead, he’ll now be locked in through his age-33 season, and the Cubs will have the ability to bring him back for his age-34 campaign.

Though Hendricks, a relatively soft-tossing Dartmouth product, has never been to an All-Star Game, he’s had an ERA under 4.00 in all five of his major-league seasons and has averaged just 2.1 walks per nine innings throughout his career. He finished third in NL Cy Young voting in 2016 while posting a majors-best 2.13 ERA, and he was arguably the Cubs’ most consistent starter as they broke their 108-year World Series drought.

Hendricks posted a 3.44 ERA and 1.15 WHIP last season with 161 strikeouts and 44 walks over 199 innings. For his career, he has a 3.07 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 789 frames.

With this extension, the Cubs have two starting pitchers — Hendricks and Yu Darvish — under control through the 2023 season, and they’ll owe at least $77.5 million to starting pitchers — Hendricks, Darvish, Jon Lester, Tyler Chatwood, and Jose Quintana — next season, at least as long as they pick up Quintana’s $10.5 million club option for 2020. They also will have Mike Montgomery under club control and a $3 million club option on Kendall Graveman.