MLB · P (listed) · Chicago Cubs
Justin Steele
B/T L/L · 6' 2" · 205 lb · born Lucedale, MS, USA · age 31 · draft 2014 rd 5 · MLB debut 2021-04-12
Injured 60-Day · Left elbow injury (roster status, as of )
10 batters faced scored this season His season card →
Scout’s note
A 5th-round pick in 2014 from Lucedale, Mississippi, Steele has 517 strikeouts in 102 big-league games — a strikeout-per-game rate that anchors a rotation. The 31-year-old left-hander debuted in 2021 and has been the steady hand since.
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, as of .
- 2026 salary
- $6.78M
- Tax hit
- $6.78M
- Service time
- 4 yr 143 d
- Options left
- 0 / 3
The deal 1 year $6.8M (2026)
On the sheet: 1 y/$6.775M (26) · agent Wasserman
After this season, as the sheet has it
| Season | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | Arb 4 | 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.
Two sources, read a month apart, put this guarantee at the same dollar. That is the check, and it passed.
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.
Not financial advice. We take positions only after publication — never before. Misses stay on the record.
The Bureau on Justin Steele
The scouting press, in their own words
Cubs baseball president Jed Hoyer talks here about how and why he landed Clay Holmes. In full pod he talks Cabrera, Steele, Brown, Brewers, PCA, Skubal, more. We talk NYY offense YouTube: https://t.co/WQRmVFECHG Apple: https://t.co/VttXfkSekR Spotify: https://t.co/zyucR067WZ https://t.co/hwRidHgf4h
The line
Bio & season lines: MLB StatsAPI · refreshed nightly · abbreviations →