Pete Crow-Armstrong Gives Rangers, Wyatt Langford New Template for Extension

The Texas Rangers have expressed interest in extending Wyatt Langford beyond the four remaining years of team control they have. Langford has expressed some interest as well.

There doesn’t appear to be any hurry. Major League Baseball and the Player’s Association need to hammer out a new labor deal for 2027. It may be in Langford’s best interests to wait, as he’s eligible for arbitration next offseason.

MLB teams are getting better at locking up young stars in extensions that get them through their arbitration seasons and into their early free agency years. If it makes sense for both sides, it helps control costs.

The Chicago Cubs and outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong agreed to a deal earlier this week for six years and $115 million. In some ways, it gives the Rangers and Langford a new template to use for a potential path forward.

Did PCA Help Rangers and Wyatt Langford?

Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong smiles as he walks off the field. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Here is how Crow-Armstrong’s extension breaks down, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today:

Signing Bonus: $5 million

2027: $10 million

2028: $10 million

2029: $10 million

2030: $20 million

2031: $30 million

2032: $30 million

It also comes with a range of escalators that can boost the salary in 2031 and 2032 depending on how he finishes in NL MVP voting.

Crow-Armstrong is eligible for arbitration in 2027. He’ll make the minimum this year, plus the bonus, and then start making $10 million for each of the next three seasons at a time in which he would be eligible for arbitration. It’s a cost saver for the Cubs, as he was an All-Star, a Gold Glove winner and finished ninth in MVP voting. It helps Chicago manage large payroll commitments to players like Alex Bregman.

At a time when he would be eligible for free agency he graduates to $20 million per year in 2030 and then becomes a $30 million player in 2031 and 2032. This comes at a time when the Cubs payroll looks considerably lower, and one of the best center fielders in baseball makes great money.

The incentives are attainable. His base salary for 2031 goes up by $2 million for every MVP award from 2027-30, by $1 million for every second- or third-place finish, by $750,000 for every fourth- or fifth-place finish and by $500,000 for every Top 10 finish outside the Top 5. The same structure exists for 2032 based on MVP finishes from 2027-31.

For instance, if he wins an MVP in 2027, finishes third in 2028, fifth in 2029 and sixth in 2030 he’ll add more than $4 million to his salary for both 2031 and 2032.

This is a bargain for Chicago up front, something it needs with a Top 10 payroll in 2026. It becomes a huge income boost for Crow-Armstrong as he enters his free agent years. He’ll likely be an under-market player, but he can augment that with an attainable bonus structure. The Cubs could also tear up the deal and redo it for a player who will barely be 30 years old by the end of the contract.

A deal like this would work for both the Rangers and Langford. The structure gives Texas flexibility as it works through the remainder of the contracts for Joc Pederson, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. As the salary goes higher, Langford’s stature in the game, the Rangers, hope, increases. Texas could even pepper the deal with a player opt-out, something Crow-Armstrong doesn’t have.

It’s the type of template that would work for both sides, if there is desire to get a deal one.