Chicago Cubs, Arrieta far apart on salary

The annual Cubs convention is always the feel-good hit of the winter.

So it was Friday, when fans began filling every corner and hallway of the Sheraton Grand Chicago hours before the evening's opening ceremonies.

There was one bit of cold winter water thrown on the proceedings, however. The Cubs managed to reach contract agreements with six of their seven arbitration-eligible players.

They did not do so with a seventh. and he's biggie: ace pitcher Jake Arrieta.

Speaking of big, the gap between Arrieta and the Cubs is just that. The team is offering the Cy Young Award winner $7.5 million while Arrieta and agent Scott Boras have come in at $13 million. Arrieta went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA last season.

"It's not going to be $7.5 (million)," Arrieta said before the opening ceremonies. "We're far apart. But that's kind of how these things go. This happens a lot. They have their number. We have ours. We like our case. But at the end of the day, something will get worked out. It doesn't take away from what the goal is, and that's to get ready for spring and ultimately to be ready to start our season."

Neither side appears to be taking things personally. Team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer do not like to go to arbitration hearings - where an arbitrator must pick one figure or the other - so it's conceivable the two sides could meet exactly in the middle, at $10.25 million.

"We have nothing but good things to say about him," Epstein said. "His performance last year and as a Cub speaks for itself. He'll be deservedly rewarded by the system, and we look forward to making it happen, preferably as a settlement. "If we go to a hearing, we go to a hearing. We wouldn't go in and pick holes in Jake Arrieta's performance, that's for sure. We think he had a historic season. We think he deserves a huge raise, and we're really proud of him."

Nothing new on Theo:

There was no announcement on a contract extension for Epstein, who is entering the final season of his five-year contract.

The way Epstein put it, first things first.

"Status quo," he said. "We're completely on the same page. We just haven't gotten around to hammering out an actual contract. But, again, I only really think about it when you guys ask. I see myself staying in the exact same role for a long time. I think Tom (chairman Ricketts) sees it the same way. At some point, we'll get around to doing a contract extension, but I think players deserve contracts first, before front-office guys.

"Jake probably deserves a contract before I do. I know he deserves a contract before I do, so we'll take care of that first."

Scary good Cubs:

Pitcher Jon Lester was the Cubs' big free-agent signing last winter, getting six years and $155 million. This winter, the Cubs handed an eight-year, $184 million deal to outfielder Jason Heyward.

They also acquired pitcher John Lackey and infielder Ben Zobrist.

Lester said he knows expectations will be high this year after the Cubs won 97 games last year and advanced to the National League championship series, in which they were swept in four games by the Mets.

"The scary part for everybody now is we know how good we can be," Lester said. "I think we were all a little disappointed and obviously happy about what happened last year. That's a good thing. We want to be disappointed. We want to be disappointed. We don't' want to be complacent of where we got. That shows an attitude of these guys and how committed they are to trying to win. These young guys got a taste of what it's like, and they got a taste of what the disappointment is like."

Back in the fold:

The Cubs agreed to 2016 contracts with six arbitration-eligible players. Pitcher Travis Wood gets $6.17 million. Others with deals are closer Hector Rondon ($4.2 million), reliever Pedro Strop ($4.4 million), reliever Justin Grimm ($1.275 million), pitcher Adam Warren ($1.7 million) and outfielder Chris Coghlan ($4.8 million).

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