Cubs should run to the table for this Nico Hoerner contract extension projection

The Chicago Cubs trade rumors surrounding Nico Hoerner have quickly been silenced. Sure, the Cubs have left the door cracked open for an interested team to walk through and make an offer similar to what they gave away in the Kyle Tucker trade last year, but the odds of that happening don't appear to be all that likely.

With spring training around the corner, now is likely the time that Jed Hoyer and Co. will turn their attention to possible contract extensions.

In the days leading up to Opening Day in 2023, the Cubs signed both Hoerner and Ian Happ to three-year contract extensions. Last March, the Cubs approached Pete Crow-Armstrong about a possible contract extension before the two sides agreed to table talks once the regular season started.

For as much as Cubs fans want contract extensions to take place during the offseason, Hoyer's history suggests those talks will take place in earnest during spring training.

The Cubs have no shortage of pending free agents to discuss a potential extension. Hoerner and Happ are near the top of the list, but they are also joined by Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki, and Carson Kelly.

Nico Hoerner's contract projections should have the Cubs ready to sign on the dotted line.

In many ways, Hoerner could be a complicated extension to get done.

He's one of the best second basemen in all of baseball, but the lack of power often leads to him getting snubbed on the national scene. Still, he'll be able to sell himself as a Gold Glove-caliber second baseman with incredible bat-to-ball skills. Not mention, his agents will likely highlight that in the years before Dansby Swanson, Hoerner handled his own as the Cubs' shortstop.

Add in that Hoerner is excellent on the base paths, and those are all reasons why his free agency, if he hits the open market, shouldn't stall in the way that Luis Arraez's has.

CBS Sports' Mike Axisa highlighted extension candidates ahead of spring training, and it was no surprise to see Hoerner mentioned. For as much as it may be complicated to determine his value, Hoerner is likely the easiest extension to get done. Axisa puts the number at $120 million for six years.

If that is the deal Hoerner is looking at, it's one the Cubs need to get done as soon as possible. The lack of extensions is what accelerated the teardown of the previous contending core on the North Side, and with Swanson and Alex Bregman entrenched as long-term pieces, Hoerner should be the next in line, and $120 million is an incredibly affordable deal for the Cubs.