Cubs spring training: ‘Cautious optimism’ turned into a ‘happy dance’

MESA, Ariz. – Cubs manager David Ross was dress shopping when he got the news that baseball was coming back.

He and his teenage daughter Landri had a function coming up, so he took her to the mall Thursday. That’s when the Major League Baseball Players Association voted to accept the league’s latest proposal and the owners ratified the new collective bargaining agreement.

Landri went into the dressing room to try on some options, and Ross started shooting off individual texts to each of his players.

“Willson Contreras texted me back like two seconds later,” Ross recounted Friday. “He’s ready to go. I think all these guys are ready to go.”

Finally, after a 99-day lockout, MLB coaches could contact their players, front offices could sign free agents, and spring training facilities could welcome back major-leaguers.

Saturday morning, players on the Cubs 40-man roster began to trickle into the Sloan Park complex. Their dozen early spring training reportees included pitchers Marcus Stroman, Kyle Hendricks, Justin Steele and Manuel Rodriguez, outfielder Ian Happ, second baseman Nick Madrigal and versatile fielder Nico Hoerner.

Happ, the MLBPA team rep, was the Cubs players’ connection to the collective bargaining process. He broke the news to many of them on Thursday with a message to the group chat: We got the vote.

“I proceeded to do my happy dance,” Steele said.

Happ, on the other hand, took a deep breath.

“For the first time in six months,” he added.

Happ came into the week with “cautious optimism,” he said. But that had been the case for several weeks, and an agreement had remained elusive.

As the process went on, Happ consistently canvassed his teammates on collective bargaining issues, with the help of Cubs pitcher Scott Efross. This week several Cubs players praised Happ’s diligence in keeping them informed.

“We were able to have really good sense going into yesterday of where we stood,” Happ said, “and then just able to check in kind of in the final hours to make sure everybody was on board. And we were all together on it.”

Happ cast his vote in favor of accepting the league’s proposal.

Happ said he was most proud of the progress they made on compensation for younger players, especially as a group of union leaders who wouldn’t directly benefit from those changes.

“I think that speaks volumes to the unity of our group and how we feel the game is trending,” Happ said.

The new CBA raised minimum salaries from $570,500 in 2021 to $700,000 in 2022, with incremental increases over the course of the agreement, up to $780,000 in 2026. It also created a pre-arbitration bonus pool of $50 million for top performers.

Young players took notice.

“For me and for people that aren’t at this level yet, it means a lot,” Cubs infielder/outfielder Nico Hoerner told the Sun-Times earlier this week. “And there’s so much talent in this game, it’s a shame to be missing time [in spring training,] but knowing that it’s for a good reason, it’s well worth it.”

There are still a few wrinkles to iron out.

Though the new CBA sets a 26-player roster limit (28 in September), with a max of 13 pitchers (14 in September), early-season roster expansion remains a possibility. Asked if he thought expanded rosters were needed to start the season, Happ said, “We’ll see.”

“We had an example of it in 2020 that probably helped,” he continued. “Definitely from the pitching perspective, to make sure guys are healthy, there’s an argument for it.”

Teams have waded into the free agent market not knowing exactly what the rules will look like to start the season. Notable signings Friday afternoon included pitchers Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers) and Carlos Rodon (Giants).

With their first post-lockout move later that afternoon, the Cubs agreed to a one-year contract with shortstop Andrelton Simmons, the Sun-Times confirmed. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman first reported the terms of the deal.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins could be spotted zipping through the spring training complex in a golf cart Friday afternoon. But mostly they were out of sight in their offices, making calls and deals.

“You want to get guys in camp as quickly as you can,” Hoyer said before the first reports of Simmons’ signing broke. “Not all those deals are going to come together right away, but that’s certainly the goal.”

This will be a more hectic spring training than most. But even so, the excitement around the spring training complex was palpable. Baseball is back.

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