As Chicago Cubs report to spring training, 2021 looks like the last hurrah for the World Series championship core: ‘That’s just the reality’

The uncertain futures of Bryant, Rizzo and Baez in Chicago remain impossible to ignore the closer the calendar moves to free agency. Bryant, 29, and Baez, 28, are earning $19 million and $11.65 million, respectively, in their final arbitration year. A cornerstone player for nearly a decade and the face of the franchise, the 31-year-old Rizzo is completing the second of two club options on his initial seven-year, $41 million extension.