CHICAGO — In a perfect world, Jed Hoyer and the Cubs front office brass engage plenty of his current players in extension talks and ensure they stay on the North Side for years to come.

And, whether they actually extend, those talks never become public.

“I think my hope and expectation is that we’ll have extension talks with a number of our players this offseason,” the Cubs president of baseball operations said with a smile in his end-of-season press conference on Wednesday. “My hope and expectation is that you never find out about it. That’s kind of what I would say.”

[WATCH: Jed Hoyer’s full end-of-season press conference on the Marquee Sports Network App]

Nico Hoerner, 28, and Ian Happ, 31, both signed three-year extensions that covered the 2024-2026 seasons. They’re homegrown players who enter their walk years next season. They’re the two most recent players to sign extensions that kept them in Chicago beyond their seasons of team control. The future of those two will be monitored next season, for sure.

Kyle Tucker’s free agency will be the biggest contract Cubs fans will keep an eye on, and other veterans like Jameson Taillon, Seiya Suzuki and Matthew Boyd could become free agents after 2026, too. But for purposes of this exercise, we’re focusing on the younger nucleus of players that Hoyer and his brass might try to keep in Chicago long-term, specifically someone like Pete Crow-Armstrong.

The team engaged in extension talks with the 23-year-old center fielder earlier in the year, but those talks never materialized into a long-term pact.

“Using the Pete example, I’d love it if those don’t get out,” Hoyer said.

He went on to post a career-year in 2025, amassing 6.0 bWAR, reaching the 30-30-30 plateau with 31 home runs, 35 stolen bases and 37 doubles, while driving in 95 runs and posting a .768 OPS. Crow-Armstrong was the starting center fielder for the National League in the All-Star Game. He cooled off in the second half, hitting .216 after the Midsummer Classic with a .634 OPS.

“There could have been some fatigue that set in … I expect him to keep getting better and better.”

Jed Hoyer addresses PCA’s 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/7h3U6P9DyM

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) October 15, 2025

“That’s something I talked to Pete a lot about during the course of the year, that this is the first time he’s gone through the entire season,” Hoyer said. “He plays really hard and is kind of the backbone of our defense. There could have been some fatigue there that set in.

“I do think that, going forward, he’s going to have to shrink his strike zone, and he’s gonna have to focus on those things, but I think he will. He’s still 23 years old. He’s still learning, so I expect him to kind of keep getting better and better. It may be gradual, it may come all at once, but I have no question that it’ll continue to get better.”

He’s not arbitration-eligible for another season and won’t hit free agency until 2031, his age-29 season. Keeping a player that plays elite defense – he’s a Gold Glove finalist in center field this year – can hit for power, and has elite speed would ensure they have a cornerstone for potentially a decade or so.

He’s not the only player with years of team control that could make sense to extend.

Cade Horton had a breakout campaign and might be the front-runner for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. He had a 2.67 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 118 innings and was lined up to be the team’s Game 1 starter in the playoffs before a fractured rib sidelined him and kept him out of the playoff run.

If he finishes in the top two of Rookie of the Year balloting, he’ll gain a full year of service time and will be a free agent in 2031, his age-30 season. Pitchers and teams are often more likely to sign extensions because of the injury risk that comes with the position.

Michael Busch, 27, hit 34 home runs in his second full season in the major leagues and posted an .866 OPS with a 4.5 WAR. He’s not arbitration eligible until 2027 and isn’t a free agent until 2030, his age-32 season. A caveat with Busch, though, is that he’s represented by Scott Boras, who traditionally prefers his clients to test the open market.

The Cubs also could engage third baseman Matt Shaw, 23, who followed a similar rookie campaign trajectory to Crow-Armstrong.

Shaw struggled mightily at the plate in the first half, but he posted an .839 OPS with 11 home runs after the All-Star Break. He posted a 3.1 bWAR and is a Gold Glove finalist at the hot corner and isn’t arbitration eligible until 2028 and won’t hit the open market until 2031, his age-29 season. The Cubs could engage him like they did Crow-Armstrong this year.

Some of the Cubs’ young players who debuted in 2025 – like Owen Caissie and Moisés Ballesteros – could be candidates too, although their lack of big-league experience might make it complicated for both sides to come to terms on an extension.

Regardless, Hoyer and the Cubs like the position that they’re in – and hope fans will see a few social media posts or announcements when any deal is official, and not before.

“I think that we have a number of players that we’d love to keep long term, and we’ll have those conversations,” Hoyer said. “We have clean books going forward, we have good players, and we’ll have those conversations.”