Friday is the deadline for the Chicago Cubs to tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible players, and as we have already discussed, the decisions seem straightforward. Justin Steele is a lock to be tendered a contract, and it wouldn't make all that much sense for the team to tender a contract to veteran catcher Reese McGuire. Given the minor-league options at hand, it would also seem that Eli Morgan and Javier Assad are likely to be tendered contracts.
However, Shota Imanaga accepting the Cubs' qualifying offer may shift the thinking when it comes to Assad.