Cubs News: Team avoids arbitration with Justin Steele and Nate Pearson

The Chicago Cubs entered Thursday with four arbitration-eligible players and, as of the league's 1 p.m. ET deadline to agree on figures, have agreed with new deals for two of them: left-hander Justin Steele and right-hander Nate Pearson.

The Cubs and Steele agreed at $6.55 million, a notable bump from last year's $4 million mark, and reached a deal with Pearson at $1.35 million for his first full season in Chicago after joining the team last summer at the trade deadline.

Steele, 29, built on his breakout 2023 season and overcame an early-season injury that cost him more than a month to turn in another solid campaign. He made 24 starts, working to a 3.07 ERA, 1.099 WHIP and 130 ERA+, slotting in alongside Shota Imanaga atop the Cubs rotation. Chicago will need a full season from the left-hander if they want to supplant Milwaukee atop the NL Central in 2025.

Pearson seemed to make great strides after coming over from Toronto, dramatically improving his walk rate and posting a 147 ERA+ in 26 1/3 innings. He makes sense as a swing man candidate for Craig Counsell this season, but it's clear the Cubs have high hopes on the right-hander being a major contributor on this pitching staff.

The Cubs had agreed to new one-year deals with a pair of relievers months ago, bringing back Julian Merryweather ($1.225 million) and Keegan Thompson ($850K) - but we're still waiting on news on two newcomers: reliever Eli Morgan, who was acquired from Cleveland this offseason, and the big prize - All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker.

As those updates roll in this afternoon, we'll keep you updated. It would be an egregious misstep for Jed Hoyer and the front office to take Tucker to a hearing over his 2025 salary, so I suspect we'll hear something on that front before the day's up. For context, the 1 p.m. ET deadline was a soft deadline, so there's no need to panic just yet.