Sources: Cubs, Pete Crow-Armstrong finalizing extension - ESPN

Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Chicago Cubs are finalizing a long-term contract extension, sources told ESPN on Monday, locking up one of the breakout stars of last season after he won a Gold Glove and posted the team's first 30-30 season in three decades.

Crow-Armstrong, who turns 24 on Wednesday, cemented himself as the best defensive center fielder in baseball last season and was strong offensively in his first full major league season, prompting Chicago to pursue an extension over the winter.

Crow-Armstrong's ascent to the All-Star Game last year and inclusion on the United States' World Baseball Classic roster this year came after a season in which he led the majors in outs above average and also proved himself plenty capable at the plate.

His first half was especially impressive, as he hit .265/.302/.544 with 25 home runs and 27 stolen bases. Though Crow-Armstrong struggled in the second half, with only six home runs, eight steals and a .216/.262/.372 slash line, his MVP-caliber talent convinced the Cubs that the second half was more anomalous than the first.

Known as PCA, Crow-Armstrong was a first-round pick by the New York Mets in 2020 out of Los Angeles' Harvard-Westlake, one of the best high school programs in the country. Barely a year later, desperate to upgrade at the trade deadline, the Mets dealt Crow-Armstrong to the Cubs for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams.

Almost immediately, New York regretted the deal. Crow-Armstrong thrived at both levels of Class A in his first full minor league season in 2023 and made it to the big leagues as a September call-up the next year.

Though he showed flashes of stardom in 2024, Crow-Armstrong's power didn't materialize until 2025, when he doubled 37 times in