All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo’s contract talks with the Cubs are stalled for the same reason contract talks usually stall: A difference of opinion on the player’s value.
The Cubs offered Rizzo a five-year extension for $70 million, according to major-league sources. The proposal, an initial offer subject to negotiation, was front-loaded and included escalators that would have enabled Rizzo to earn more on the back end, sources said. But the guarantee was barely more than half of what the Cardinals gave first baseman Paul Goldschmidt when they signed him to a five-year, $130 million extension in March 2019.
Rizzo is in the same position Goldschmidt was then, eight months away from free agency, entering his age-31 season.