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This former Chicago Cubs superstar opted out of his contractVincent Pariseon November 8, 2022 at 1:00 pm

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – APRIL 12: Anthony Rizzo #44 of the Chicago Cubs
celebrates hitting a two run home run with Kris Bryant #17 against the Los Angeles Angels at Wrigley Field on April 12, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs defeated the Angels 5-1. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

There are a lot of former Chicago Cubs All-Stars playing across the league for other teams. Some of them are having major success and some of them probably miss the good old days. One of them, however, is opting out of the contract that he had with an elite team.

Anthony Rizzo was traded by the Cubs to the New York Yankees. He is the only Cubs star that was traded away that stayed with the team that he was sent to. However, he decided to opt out of the contract that he had signed with the Yankees after last year.

Now, Rizzo is officially a free agent. In leaving the Yankees, he says goodbye to one of the best teams in the American League. However, they might take a few steps back if some of their other stars are sent away or start to regress as they did for most of the second half of 2022.

It will be interesting to see what is out there for Rizzo once free agency actually begins on Thursday. There is still a chance that he goes back to the Yankees for more money but that honestly doesn’t feel likely at this point.

Former Chicago Cubs star Anthony Rizzo is opting out of his NYY contract.

Rizzo is going to get paid handsomely despite being in his 30s. He was sensational in 2022 and one of the only players that hit well for the Yankees once the postseason came around.

In the regular season, he had a slash line of .224/.338/.480 for an OPS of .819. He smashed 32 home runs and had 75 RBIs and 77 runs scored. With all of this, he accumulated a 2.3 WAR which isn’t bad at all.

It isn’t elite-level numbers like he used to put up but it is still very good. Lots of teams will pay for 32 home runs, a decent slash line, and some good first-base play.

There might be a chance that the Chicago Cubs take a look at him. We all know that they have been rumored to be interested in Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox but if he decides to go back to the south side or elsewhere they could try to land Rizzo back.

No matter what, Rizzo will always be a part of Chicago Cubs’ history in a positive way so it will continue to be noteworthy whenever he is in the news. Now, we wait to see where this former fan-favorite will end up. You can be sure that he will help them win games.