MLB · 1B · Chicago Cubs
Michael Busch
B/T L/R · 5' 11" · 210 lb · born Inver Grove Heights, MN, USA · age 28 · draft 2019 rd 1 · played 1B 160 · MLB debut 2023-04-25
710 plate appearances scored this season His season card →
Scout’s note
A first baseman from Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, and the 2019 first-round pick, Busch has 77 home runs and 239 RBI in 494 games — but also 493 strikeouts, nearly one per game.
Note written · FVR scout (GLM-5.2)
Where he stands
throughAgainst the 406 qualified major-league hitters — 100+ balls in play this season, the same field the boards are chosen out of. Right is better on every row.
- EV95104.734
- Deserved (xVal)0.38962
- Got (aVal)0.37460
- Luck gap (park-adjusted)flipped-0.00958
today · 30 days ago, against the 375 men who qualified then · the tick is the midpoint · the number at the right is the percentile, the number beside it the measurement itself.
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
- $4.86M
- Tax hit
- $4.86M
- Service time
- 3 yr 45 d
- Options left
- 2 / 3
The deal A1
On the sheet: A1
After this season, as the sheet has it
| Season | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | Arb 2 | Arb 3 | 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
- $0.86M
- Guaranteed
- $0.86M
- Term
- 1 yr
- His class
- Pre-Arb
What the sheet prices each season at
| Season | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salary | Minimum | Arb 1 | Arb 2 | Arb 3 |
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 Michael Busch
If the signal is right, the cardboard usually finds out later. Current listings:
Michael Busch cards on eBay →Paid link — as an eBay Partner, FVR earns from qualifying purchases.
The Bureau on Michael Busch
The scouting press, in their own words
⚾ 2027 Player Profile ⚾ Michael Busch, Chicago Cubs - 2026 season review - Profile breakdown - 2027 & Long-term Outlook - Buy, Sell, or Hold in Dynasty? #FantasyBaseball https://t.co/MyIwzcVQD2
Really good answer from Michael Busch about how Trajekt has helped him develop against lefty arms. His wRC+ jumped from 81 to 111 vs lefties this season. In-game applications of Trajekt are cool, but the training environment applications have always intrigued me more. https://t.co/JDSLqJckb8
Umpire favor
+8.2 net runs over 79 graded games — the zone was kind to the umpire on balance.
The postseason
Michael Busch’s playoff games, each on its reconciled card. Kept apart from the season line below — none of it is counted in a season number on this page.
- NL Wild Card Series, Game 2 · CHC vs. SD · 0-2, 1 BB
- NL Wild Card Series, Game 1 · CHC vs. SD · 0-3, 1 BB
The line
Bio & season lines: MLB StatsAPI · refreshed nightly · abbreviations →