MLB · P · Chicago Cubs
Justin Steele
B/T L/L · 6' 2" · 205 lb · born Lucedale, MS, USA · age 31 · draft 2014 rd 5 · played P 4 · MLB debut 2021-04-12
Injured 60-Day · Left elbow injury (roster status, as of )
34 batters faced scored this season His season card →
Scout’s note
Justin Steele, a left-hander from Lucedale, Mississippi, drafted in the fifth round of 2014, has been in the big leagues since April 2021. In 102 career games he has struck out 517 — the line of a frontline starter.
Note written · FVR scout (GLM-5.2)
What he’s paid
ArbitrationA market fact, not an engine read: what a club decided about him, on the season before this one. Figures from Cot’s.
- 2026 salary
- $6.78M
- Tax hit
- $6.78M
- Service time
- 5 yr 143 d
- Options left
- 0 / 3
The deal A4
On the sheet: A4 · agent Wasserman
After this season, as the sheet has it
| Season | 2028 |
|---|---|
| Cash | Free agent |
| Tax hit | — |
Cash and the tax hit are two different rulebooks and are never subtracted from one another — see the payroll board for his club, Chicago Cubs.
A second set of books
The same contract, read by MLB Spreadsheets (Ethan Hullihen), as of . We keep two sources on this because one source cannot check itself.
- Tax AAV
- $6.78M
- Guaranteed
- $6.78M
- Term
- 1 yr
- His class
- Arb
What the sheet prices each season at
| Season | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | Arb 3 | Arb 4 |
A base salary under his own reading, and never subtracted from the cash figure above: a signing bonus lands in one and not the other, so the two disagree on most men without either being wrong. And the sheet does not mark which future seasons are GUARANTEED — a club option and a projected arbitration award are both just a number here, so read past the end of the deal as his forecast rather than as money owed.
The tax AAV above is his number under the CBA’s own rulebook, not the average we work out from Cot’s total. On a contract with deferred money the two come apart on purpose — and neither is subtracted from the other.
Collect Justin Steele
If the signal is right, the cardboard usually finds out later. Current listings:
Justin Steele cards on eBay →Paid link — as an eBay Partner, FVR earns from qualifying purchases.
The line
Bio & season lines: MLB StatsAPI · refreshed nightly · abbreviations →