Second baseman Nico Hoerner’s mom and dad, both teachers who never pushed him to be a ballplayer, and his two sisters sat in the front row with his fianceé, Julia, who was presented roses by the Cubs.
At least a dozen teammates filled one side of the room, including locker mate Ian Happ, along with manager Craig Counsell.
Hoerner and Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer exchanged bouquets, with Hoyer saying that, from the time the Cubs drafted Hoerner 24th overall in 2018, they had identified him as a player who met their vision of what it was to be a Cub.
Negotiations that began in January met the Opening Day deadline Hoerner had set for a deal to be struck — or close enough: Hoyer said the sides completed negotiations during the game.
‘‘I thought the coolest thing was each scouting report said, ‘Our kind of player, needs to be a Cub, plays like a Cub,’ ’’ Hoyer said. ‘‘Every one of the scouting reports was consistent in this is the kind of player we want to have. . . .
‘‘That could not be more true. When I think of Nico as a player and a person, he’s so unbelievably consistent, and I think sometimes consistency can be underrated or unappreciated. . . . He’s been a top-20 player, by any estimation in the league, by being so unbelievably consistent.’’
It has rarely paid better to be a Cub. On Friday, the Cubs announced they had signed center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong to a six-year, $115 million deal. After the game Sunday, in a second-floor conference room in the Cubs’ offices, they announced a six-year, $141 million deal for Hoerner.
Hoerner was eligible for free agency after the season and, as much as he expressed his love for playing in Chicago, acknowledged he was prepared to test the market if it came to that. It was important to him that he be valued the way he perceived he should.
So is this what the Cubs look like with the financial gloves off — big paydays for Crow-Armstrong and Hoerner, preceded by the five-year, $175 million free-agent signin
