Cubs Convention notes: Ian Happ’s future, Nico Hoerner embracing his old spot and where Nick Madrigal fits

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Ian Happ isn’t ruling out anything for his future with the Chicago Cubs.

While the left fielder’s 2023 salary remains uncertain, there’s a window for the sides to work out a contract extension before Happ can become a free agent at the end of the season.

Happ and the Cubs didn’t settle on terms for his final arbitration year before Friday’s deadline, though they still are working to find middle ground to avoid an arbitration hearing. The Cubs did reach agreements for this season with their other three arbitration-eligible players: infielders Nico Hoerner ($2.525 million) and Nick Madrigal ($1.225 million) and reliever Codi Heuer ($785,000).

Happ, 28, is coming off his best all-around season, highlighted by appearing in his first All-Star Game and winning his first Gold Glove Award. Contract extension talks have not been part of the arbitration conversations, Happ said Friday at the opening of the Cubs Convention.

If an extension gets done with Happ or Hoerner — who also fits the mold of a player the team should want to retain — it likely would need to happen in the next month.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said earlier this offseason that he doesn’t like negotiating extensions during spring training because of the tension it creates. At the very least, he wants to avoid starting negotiations after camp gets underway. Cubs pitchers and catchers report to Mesa, Ariz., in a month.

Happ has made clear he loves Chicago, but as a union representative he also understands what free agency could bring, notably after a hot market this offseason.

“It’s all part of it. I’ve loved this organization. I’ve loved every second, except for some time maybe in 2019,” Happ said with a smile, referring to opening that season at Triple-A Iowa. “Almost every second of playing here and being a part of it, it’s really special. The city’s special, the fan base is special, all those things. It’s the only thing that I know.

“On the other side of that, there’s 29 other teams that are competing and doing a great job and you earn the right to be a free agent. That’s a special thing too. I’ve said it before, I’d love to stay here, but you don’t have control of those things.”

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Despite the lack of extension discussions to this point, Happ said he never would rule it out. He also noted it’s hard to say whether the four weeks remaining before spring training would be enough time to get a deal done.

“Every player prefers to do that as early as possible,” Happ said. “There’s so much uncertainty in this game. And when you can get certainty at some point in your career, not that many people get to achieve that. It’s a pretty special thing. So, yeah, I think it’s always sooner rather than later.

“But there’s a process. There’s cost certainty of a team, there’s getting the roster together, there’s understanding what the future commitments look like. And then things start to fall into place after that, but that’s not my job.”

Hoerner is known in the Cubs clubhouse for being a team-first player and embracing whatever that takes.

So it wasn’t a surprise when he was fully on board with the Cubs signing shortstop Dansby Swanson, even though that meant being moved from a premier position where he starred defensively in 2022.

“I love playing shortstop,” Hoerner said. “It was always a dream of mine to play shortstop in the major leagues. Got to do it for a full season (last) year and was proud of how I carried myself. Always will be confident in my ability to do that, but the needs of our team are very clear. And it’s not an issue moving forward at all.

“The game is emphasizing athleticism, as much as we’ve had for a long time, and so getting to play second base without three people on that side of the field, it’s going to make for some harder plays. There’s going to be a lot of value at that position and I’m excited to see what it looks like.”

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Hoerner had continued to prepare at shortstop until the Cubs signed Swanson. With Swanson in the fold, Hoerner has spent the last few weeks getting acclimated again at second base, focusing on the finer details of the position where he was a Gold Glove finalist in 2020.

The Swanson-Hoerner tandem will give the Cubs one of the best middle infield defenses in baseball.

“It’s a different side of the field,” Hoerner said, “but I think being on that side of the field for the shift last year, it’ll make it a little more seamless.”

With Swanson signed to play shortstop and Hoerner shifting back to second base, what spot Madrigal will occupy for the Cubs remains to be seen. Madrigal played in 59 games last season, all at second base.

”I’m just preparing for whatever they throw at me,” Madrigal said. “I’m preparing to do my job, whatever that looks like at the moment. It’s a very exciting time for Cubs fans, everyone that’s part of the Cubs team.”

Hoyer mentioned Friday that Madrigal will take reps at third base. He has not played an inning at third in at least the last eight seasons, dating to his freshman year at Oregon State.

“He’s not what you think of a stereotypical third baseman power slugger,” Hoyer said, “but he’s a really good hitter, a really good player and he can definitely do it.”

Regardless of where he plays, Madrigal knows it all starts with being healthy. Madrigal, 25, had three stints on the injured list last season, missing time with a low back strain, left groin strain and right groin strain. He played in 54 games in 2021 with the White Sox, needing season-ending surgery to repair a torn right hamstring in June.

”It’s been a couple of years of the injury bug, but I feel really good at the moment,” Madrigal said. “I’m really excited to get back out there. That’s all I want to do, get back out there and play.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to be at the major-league level. I just want to enjoy it. It feels like these last couple of years there’s been a lot going on, but I’m just looking forward to enjoying this next year.”

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Looking back on Madrigal coming back from his torn hamstring, Hoyer said he probably would have held Madrigal back last spring training if he could have a do-over.

“He’s a competitor and probably tried to convince us he was ready and he probably wasn’t, and I think that’s somewhat on us,” Hoyer said. “Going forward, (I would) not do that with a player like him who’s always going to tell you he feels good.”

Madrigal has worked one-on-one with a trainer five days a week this offseason.

”So much running and different styles of lifting,” he said. “It’s been pretty busy. It’s been nonstop. I feel like I’m in a real good spot right now.”

Ten months into his rehab from Tommy John surgery, Heuer is right where he wants to be.

Heuer appeared in 25 games for the Cubs after coming to the North Side with Madrigal in the July 2021 trade for Craig Kimbrel. Arm soreness prematurely shut down his season, and when he built back up last January, an MRI revealed he tore his ulnar collateral ligament, requiring the surgery.

The sequence occurred while players were locked out by MLB owners, adding to Heuer’s unique start to his Cubs career.

“It’s been strange coming into a new organization and still kind of being the new guy on the outside, but it’s been super slow,” Heuer told the Tribune. “Every time you go through an injury like this and you step away from the game, it’s kind of weird. I’ve never really been that far away from the game for that long.”

Heuer estimates he is five to six months away from being able to rejoin the Cubs bullpen. He spent the first six months of his physical therapy in Houston and has since been working at the Cubs complex in Mesa. He has built up to throwing 120 feet and is about to begin a throwing progression off a mound.

“I was kind of nervous the other day just thinking about it, like, man, I haven’t done this in a while,” Heuer said, “But it’s second nature being on the slope again. You feel like a ballplayer again.”

The Tribune’s LaMond Pope contributed.