Roman Anthony extension hasn't reignited calls for Cubs to extend Pete Crow-Armstrong

During the first half, when the Chicago Cubs were cruising and Pete Crow-Armstrong was playing like an MVP candidate, the calls for Jed Hoyer and Tom Ricketts to do whatever it took to lock up the five-tool outfielder to a long-term extension were constant. Fans wanted to see the team lock up its budding superstar and not leave anything to chance.

But on the heels of this week's news that the Boston Red Sox extended rookie Roman Anthony via an eight-year, $130 million deal (after already having extended Ceddanne Rafaela and Kristian Campbell), there was no outcry from Cubs faithful - a sign that at least some folks are cooling to the idea given Crow-Armstrong's recent struggles.

It's important to point out that, extension or not, PCA is under team control through the end of the decade via his pre-arb and arbitration years. That fact seems to have sunk in and patience may be prevailing as the All-Star and team, as a whole, look to get back on track and make a run at catching the surging Milwaukee Brewers, who entered Thursday four games up on Chicago in the division, winners of nine of 10.

Pete Crow-Armstrong is enjoying a huge sophomore season for the Cubs

Big-picture, Crow-Armstrong is still having a monster breakout year. He leads the league with a 6.2 bWAR and 31 doubles and is on the precipice of becoming a 30-double, 30-homer, 30-steal player - something no player in Cubs history has done. But, of late, his swing-and-miss tendencies have been the main storyline and his numbers leave much to be desired.

In August (admittedly, just a one-week sample size), PCA is slashing .095/.136/.143, with a dozen strikeouts in 22 plate appearances. The fact that the slump coincides with downturns from Michael Busch and Kyle Tucker has made matters feel even worse, and the Brewers' continued play at an otherworldly pace isn't helping, either.

Assuming he snaps out of his funk and finishes the year on a high note, the Cubs could look to pick up contract discussions where they left off this spring, when the two sides discussed long-term parameters on what that might look like. There's going to be ups and downs with a player this young and his recent slump is no reason to move on from the idea of keeping him as the face of the franchise long-term.

If Chicago doesn't want to pony up for top-tier free agents, it needs to start emulating what the Red Sox are doing and dialing in deals for their young players. There's risk in such moves, sure, but the risk is far lower than missing on a $400 million free agent pact on a player in his 30s.