Cubs, free agent Joc Pederson agree to one-year, $7 million deal, per reports
Pederson had spent his entire career with the Dodgers

The Chicago Cubs have agreed to terms with free agent outfielder Joc Pederson, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the deal is for one year and $7 million.
Pederson, 28, had spent the his entire career to date with the Dodgers, the team that originally drafted him in the 11th round in 2010. He's coming off an abbreviated 2020 season in which he slashed .190/.285/.397 with seven home runs in 43 games for the world champions. For his career, Pederson owns an OPS+ of 116 across parts of seven big league seasons. He was an All-Star in 2015.
Pederson is a left-handed hitter, and his career platoon splits are notable: an .849 OPS against right-handers but just a .576 mark against lefties. As well, 121 of his 130 career home runs have come against the opposite side. As such, Pederson will almost certainly be used as a platoon player by the Cubs. He figures to split time in the outfield with Ian Happ, Jason Heyward, Nico Hoerner, and on occasion Kris Bryant. As well, Pederson's bat versus righties could come in handy in the (increasingly unlikely) event that MLB uses the universal DH in 2021.
As Joel Sherman observes, the similarities to Kyle Schwarber, whom the Cubs non-tendered earlier this offseason, are obvious:
Klye Schwarber career slash line: .230/.336/.480. Joc Pederson: .230/.336/.470. Schwarber in 2020: .188/.308/.393. Pederson: .190/.285/.397. Both LHHs with below avg defensive reps. #Cubs https://t.co/lMs6fbgZRj
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) January 29, 2021
Notably, the marks the Cubs' first significant move of the 2020-21 offseason that actually improves the 2021 roster (forgetting, for the moment, that they non-tendered the very similar Schwarber). Fortunately for them, the remainder of the NL Central has behaved similarly and done basically nothing to improve fortunes in 2021.
















