Willson Contreras To Decline Qualifying Offer From Chicago Cubs, Become Free Agent

Like it or not, Cubs fans may finally have gotten a sense of finality to the Willson Contreras goodbye tour. After he got standing ovations at Wrigley Field at the trade deadline and then again as the season came to a close, there was a bit of farewell fatigue among the Wrigley faithful.

The Cubs extended Willson Contreras the $19.65 million qualifying offer for 2023, and as expected, he is declining it. As Jon Heyman reported Tuesday, Contreras will head to free agency.

He was very nearly traded to the Astros at the deadline. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, there was a deal in place that got nixed at the last second. Contreras would have gone to Houston for starter Jose Urquidy, but Astros manager Dusty Baker had a say in shooting that trade down.

“Much as I like Willson Contreras, Urquidy was one of our best pitchers then,” Baker said. “I needed a guy that wasn’t going to complain about not playing every day. And this is his [free agent] year. See, that’s tough. When you trade for a player in his [free agent] year. Everybody’s about numbers and stuff, and I can’t blame them, no doubt. But that’s not what we needed.”

Contreras, 30, will attract plenty of attention as a free agent. He put up an .815 OPS in 2022 with 22 home runs and 23 doubles, all despite playing through the distraction of trade rumors that were unceasing for much of the first half of the season.

Already this offseason, rumors have connected him with the Detroit Tigers, potentially setting up a reunion with Javier Báez. According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, the Tigers are going to be active in the catching market, and president of baseball operations Scott Harris worked in the Cubs organization from 2012 to 2018.

Projections for what Contreras might get as a free agent range a little. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden guesses four years, $78 million, but Bleacher Report calls for something higher at six years and $132 million. The Tigers have a projected 2023 payroll of $119 million, per Roster Resource, but if the vesting options for Miguel Cabrera don’t kick in in 2024 and 2025, next year will be the last of his contract. Otherwise, Detroit’s only long-term, high-dollar contract is with Báez.

Along with the Tigers, Contreras may get offers from the St. Louis Cardinals. In October, Ben Frederickson wrote in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Contreras would make the most sense as Yadier Molina’s successor. Contreras has already asked about playing for the Cardinals, soliciting the thoughts of former teammate José Quintana. Based on what Quintana told him, and based on his experience in Chicago, Contreras might find St. Louis particularly appealing.

Contreras is one of several players who declined their options or qualifying offers today, making the free agency picture for this winter more clear. And in Chicago, Contreras declining the Cubs’ qualifying offer fully puts to rest the question of whether or not his last at-bat in a Cubs uniform had come.