Pete Crow-Armstrong is turning into a star with the Chicago Cubs in 2025. The team has been trying to negotiate a contract extension with the 23-year-old center fielder and right now it's crazy to think that Crow-Armstrong wasn't even the Cubs' first choice back in 2021, when they traded Javier Báez and Trevor Williams to the New York Mets.
I missed this anecdote that Ken Rosenthal wrote about in The Athletic at the start of May, but it's important now more than ever as Crow-Armstrong has broken out into a legit MVP candidate heading into June. Not only is PCA claiming the spot as face of the franchise, he might be saving Jed Hoyer's job with the Cubs.
Hoyer had the tough task of breaking apart the Cubs' World Series core in 2021. In retrospect, it was the right decision, but the main reason is because the Cubs ultimately received PCA. In Rosenthal's profile of the talented center fielder, Rosenthal revealed that Hoyer wanted right-handed pitcher Matt Allan from the Mets in exchange for Báez.
The Mets deemed Allan untouchable and insisted on trading Crow-Armstrong instead. By the sound of it, PCA might not have even been the second choice for the Cubs, who were also interested in infielder Mark Vientos.
Via The Athletic.
The Mets wanted infielder Javier Báez, a potential free agent. Crow-Armstrong was not the Cubs’ initial target. Early in the negotiations, Hoyer kept asking for Allan, who recently had undergone Tommy John surgery. The Mets, viewing Allan as a future top-of-the-rotation starter, responded that he was untouchable.
Mark Vientos, then a corner infielder and outfielder at Triple A, was another player the Mets and Cubs discussed. Mets acting GM Zack Scott, who worked for the Boston Red Sox from 2004 to 2020, carried his old team’s preferences to his new one. The Red Sox liked Vientos but questioned Crow-Armstrong’s bat. Both, Scott said, had little industry value.
“Only two clubs ever brought his name up,” Scott said about Crow-Armstrong. “Texas asked for him for (Joey) Gallo, who had 1 1/2 years of control, but the New York fit scared me. The Cubs were pushing for a different prospect (Allan) and were mixed on PCA.”
At the time, Crow-Armstrong wasn't playing as he underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in May of 2021. He was picked in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft, selected 19th overall out of high school.
The Cubs eventually worked out a trade with the Mets for PCA, adding in right-handed starting pitcher Trevor Williams and some money to cover part of Báez's remaining salary.
Following the 2023 season, the Cubs promoted Jared Banner to assistant GM after he served as Vice President of Player Development for three years. Why is Banner important to this story about? Well, before Banner was hired by the Cubs heading into 2021, he worked for the Mets.
The person who was strongly pushing for Crow-Armstrong during those trade negotiations? Jared Banner.
Crow-Armstrong, though, had at least one strong advocate in the Cubs’ organization — assistant GM Jared Banner, who joined the Cubs in December 2020 after serving more than two years as the Mets’ farm director.
On April 6, 2025, Allan made his first start in the Mets' minor league system since the 2019 season. Allan had Tommy John surgery in 2021, and then missed the next three years after needing two more arm surgeries.
Vientos struggled during his first two stints in the majors with the Mets, but broke out in 2024, when he posted an .837 OPS with 27 home runs in 111 games. So far in 2025, Vientos has taken a step back, posting a 97 wRC+ through 50 games.
As for the Cubs and PCA?
So many variables go into trades. Sometimes a team simply likes one player more than another. Sometimes you need someone in the front office speaking up and challenging the decision-makers. Sometimes you need a little luck.
“We were really fortunate. If he’s playing, we’re never getting him,” Hoyer said. “His defensive numbers would have been great, and they probably would have said no.”
A shoulder injury to a then 19-year-old PCA may have very much led to a completely different future for the Chicago Cubs.
