Willson Contreras recently revealed that the Chicago Cubs made him a lowball contract extension offer in 2018. Contreras, who signed with the St. Louis Cardinals during the offseason, reportedly said Chicago offered him five years and $35 million in 2018, per Mike Rodriguez. A different report stated that Contreras said the Cubs offered him a six-year, $24 million extension offer in 2018, per Sports Illustrated's Jack Vita. He ultimately landed a five-year, $87.5 million deal with the Cardinals in free agency.

Regardless of what the Cubs' exact offer was back in 2018, Contreras obviously made the right decision in betting on himself. He's emerged as one of the best catchers in baseball and is now set to join a legitimate playoff contender with the Cardinals.

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Contreras' conclusion with the Cubs was far from ideal. Chicago's approach to his contract in 2022 was confusing to say the least. It seemed likelier than not that Contreras was going to be traded ahead of the July deadline last year. That would have allowed Chicago to get prospects in return for Willson Contreras. But no deal came to fruition and Chicago was forced to watch Contreras leave in free agency.

He will now face the Cubs plenty of times over the next five years as the two rivals prepare for no shortage of NL Central matchups. It will be interesting to see what kind of reunion Contreras gets at Wrigley Field. One would imagine it would be positive given everything he brought to the Cubs during his tenure with the ball club. Although, signing with one of Chicago's biggest rivals surely didn't please fans.