The Cubs’ blockbuster commerce for Kyle Tucker generated the largest headlines in Wrigleyville this winter, with the group additionally including such notables as Matthew Boyd, Colin Rea, Eli Morgan, Carson Kelly, and Caleb Thielbar to the roster. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer acknowledged this week that the Cubs have been nonetheless wanting so as to add to the bench and bullpen, and up to date reviews recommend that the latter pursuit may even take the type of a big-ticket signing of Tanner Scott.
One of many over-arching questions on Chicago’s winter plans is precisely how a lot Hoyer had accessible to spend, and chairman Tom Ricketts addressed this level in an interview with The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney. Ricketts stated that the group expects to spend across the $241MM luxurious tax threshold, which due to this fact offers the Cubs fairly a bit of additional capability, as RosterResource estimates its present tax quantity at roughly $198.3MM.
This doesn’t essentially imply that the Cubs can be splashing round loads of that money within the coming weeks, nevertheless, as Ricketts stated some cash may very well be earmarked for upgrades on the commerce deadline. “We at all times have the power so as to add payroll if we have to on the deadline. And if there’s a bit we have to maintain profitable, there’s at all times that possibility,” Ricketts stated.
The identical wait-and-see mentality additionally impacts the rest of the winter, as Ricketts famous that groups “don’t management the timing of when these guys signal. And each offseason is completely different. Nothing will occur for 3 weeks, after which one man will signal. After which three different guys wish to signal within the subsequent two days. You simply must be versatile by way of the method, and maintain an eye fixed open on the finish with some dry powder, in case there may be somebody that could be value-added that comes at a very good value.”
A costlier signing like Scott would take up a sizeable, but not overwhelming, portion of Chicago’s price range area. Rumors have continued that the Cubs stay not less than on the periphery of the Alex Bregman and Jack Flaherty markets, so regardless of Hoyer’s feedback in regards to the group’s deal with extra lower-tier strikes, Chicago can’t be fully dominated out as a touchdown spot for both participant till they signal elsewhere. Bregman is reportedly not inquisitive about a shorter-term take care of opt-outs whereas Flaherty is not less than open to such an association, so Flaherty may very well be a greater match as the kind of “value-added” alternative Ricketts describes (although any variety of groups may also be inquisitive about Flaherty in that very same context).
The Cubs have taken a step again of their method to payroll lately, as 2024 marked the primary time since 2020 that Chicago’s Opening Day payroll landed inside the league’s high ten spenders. Whereas the Cubs boosted payroll final yr and into this offseason, some price range restraints are nonetheless clearly in place. Most notably, the commerce that despatched Cody Bellinger to the Yankees was about unloading nearly all of Bellinger’s remaining wage, along with clearing room for Tucker in Chicago’s outfield.
Followers have criticized Ricketts for this relative lack of spending from a big-market group, with some fingers pointed on the non-public funding agency Arctos for having an affect on this division. Ricketts pushed again in opposition to this criticism particularly, noting that as a result of Arctos has investments in a number of MLB groups, “they’re not allowed to take part in any baseball discussions, so that they’re walled off from something to do with payroll or participant evaluation….Finally, the non-public fairness buyers have very long-term horizons and are simply seeking to take part within the appreciation of sports activities belongings typically. They don’t want sure win totals or cash-flow numbers. They’re simply robust, silent companions.”
As at all times, the Aggressive Steadiness Tax is calculated through common annual worth plus further participant advantages, versus simply straight {dollars} — for this reason the Cubs’ $227.7MM payroll in 2024 translated to a $239.9MM tax quantity, which put Chicago barely over the $237MM tax threshold. Which means the Cubs must surrender two draft picks in an effort to signal a professional free agent like Bregman, which is why non-qualified free brokers like Scott or Flaherty may very well be preferable.
Not coincidentally, the Cubbies’ scaled-back spending by way of a semi-rebuild coincided with a dearth of postseason baseball. After reaching the postseason in 2020, the Cubs had sub-.500 seasons in each 2021 and 2022 earlier than posting equivalent 83-79 information in every of the final two seasons. There was loads of frustration amongst Cubs followers over the past two years’ value of near-misses, and it has led to hypothesis that Hoyer is dealing with additional strain as he enters the final yr of his contract because the group’s PBO.
Ricketts downplayed the thought of 2025 as a very vital season, noting that “yearly, the objective is the playoffs.” Whereas Ricketts didn’t give Hoyer an outright vote of confidence when it comes to promised job safety, the chairman did reward Hoyer’s big-picture method to roster-building.
“You consider the entrance workplace on a pair ranges. Clearly, No. 1, is simply the wins on the sector,” Ricketts stated. “That’s the obvious metric to test. Nevertheless it’s simply total organizational well being. One factor that’s been very encouraging over the previous few years is that we’ve drafted higher. And the fellows that we’ve drafted have developed extra shortly than some years previous. We put ourselves actually behind the eight-ball a couple of years in the past with a collection of drafts that weren’t very productive. And I feel we’re on the opposite aspect of that now. We’ve acquired loads of gamers coming by way of, which is able to give Jed loads of commerce capital to enter the long run.”
Evaluators and pundits have more and more praised the state of the Cubs’ farm system, and this depth already manifested itself within the Tucker commerce. Isaac Paredes was included within the three-player commerce package deal to the Astros as a result of the Cubs believe that Matt Shaw is prepared for normal third-base work, plus high prospect Cam Smith was additionally despatched to Houstin within the deal.
“Possibly in a couple of years, folks will say we must always have traded someone else,” Ricketts stated. “However that’s what it’s – there’s a stability to each commerce. On this case, I feel Jed was proper in assessing that we would have liked an impression bat this season.”
Ricketts additionally added that “hopefully, [Tucker will] take pleasure in his time right here and he’ll be right here a very long time.” Tucker is a free agent after the season, and whereas Ricketts naturally isn’t going to outright say that the Cubs view him as a only a one-year rental, his remark not less than leaves open the likelihood that the Cubs are prepared to offer Tucker the mega-deal that he’ll undoubtedly command if he retains up his present kind. Jason Heyward’s $184MM contract stays the costliest deal in Cubs historical past, and the membership may be very seemingly going to must not less than double that value to re-sign Tucker.
