Cubs sign seven arbitration-eligible players

The Cubs took care of their heavy lifting Friday when it came to signing their arbitration-eligible players.

All seven are in the fold, and the Cubs will not have to go through any arbitration hearings this winter.

The big ones were third baseman Kris Bryant and infielder Javier Baez, the runner-up in the National League's Most Valuable Player balloting last year.

Bryant, who made $10.85 million last year (a record for a first-time arb-eligible player) will make $12.9 million this season. Baez's salary goes from $657,000 in 2018 to $5.2 million this year.

Bryant battled a shoulder injury much of last season. He played in 102 games and put up a batting line of .272/.374/.460 with 13 homers and 52 RBI. Bryant hit 29 homers in 2017 and 39 in his MVP season of 2016, when the Cubs won the World Series.

Baez, who finished second to Milwaukee's Christian Yelich in MVP balloting in 2018, went .290/.326/.554 with 34 homers and a league-leading 111 RBI.

Pitcher Kyle Hendricks agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $7.405 million. He made $4.175 million last year, when he went 14-11 with a 3.44 ERA.

Reliever Carl Edwards Jr, who made $594,000 in 2018, gets $1.5 million for this coming season. Swing man Mike Montgomery's salary goes from $611,250 to $2.44 million. He appeared in 38 games last year, 19 as a starter.

Left fielder Kyle Schwarber agreed to a deal worth $3.39 million after getting $604,500 last season. Schwarber had a line of .238/.356/.467 with 26 homers and 61 RBI.

Shortstop Addison Russell, who will begin the season serving most of his 40-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's policy on domestic abuse, will get a base salary of $3.4 million plus incentives that could bring the deal up to $4 million. Russell made $3.2 million last season. Reports say the incentives are based on the number of days he spends on the active roster.