Cubs: Financial situation will continue to hinder team

The Chicago Cubs are reportedly tight on money for the second consecutive offseason, and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight.

The Chicago Cubs are one of the most storied franchises in all of sports – well-known losers before this recent stretch of success – but they find themselves in an unpleasant situation for the second consecutive offseason. Last offseason, Theo Epstein’s only notable move was signing Daniel Descalso and banked on his team bouncing back from a collapse at the end of the 2018 season. The bounceback never happened as the team couldn’t find a groove all season long and finished in a disappointing third place.

During the season, the team added both Craig Kimbrel and Nick Castellanos, and the latter looks like he won’t be returning to the north side next season. With the league’s luxury tax threshold set at $208 million next year, the Cubs already find themselves nearly capped in that regard with hefty contracts in Yu Darvish, Jason Heyward, Tyler Chatwood, and Jon Lester. The addition of Castellanos and Ben Zobrist‘s return from the restricted list put the Cubs over the luxury tax threshold last year, and they will be subject writing a check to the league office.

Repeat offenders have more severe consequences with potential draft picks and international free agent bonus pool money on the line, so it’s understandable why the Cubs are reluctant to make any big moves. Now the Ricketts family could certainly entertain the idea of exceeding the luxury tax, being subjected to a repeat offense, but could allocate the money coming off the books after this season in Lester, Chatwood, and Jose Quintana.

Despite the last two seasons, the Cubs are still within their window of contention, and trading away Kris Bryant, Darvish, or Willson Contreras would set them back and potentially wasting their core players’ time with the team. The signing of Brandon Morrow and the selection of Trevor Megill via the Rule 5 draft are minors moves in a series of moves that are needed before next season.

The Cubs have struggled with their contact rate the previous two seasons, and one could make a valid point that the team’s medical staff often looked clueless handling players’ injuries. Parting ways with Joe Maddon was the right move, despite his success, as it appeared that he and the front office could never get on the same page. And David Ross‘s new coaching staff – outside of pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and hitting coach Anthony Iapoce – should certainly help in terms of a fresh start. Still, if the Cubs return everyone from last year’s roster, I would expect significant trades to occur at the deadline if the team is scuffling again.

The fact that the Cubs are struggling to extend their best player in Bryant, declining to offer Anthony Rizzo an extension this offseason, and potentially trading away Contreras is not conducive to giving the team its’ best opportunity to win. Combined with the Cardinals not having an overly impressive roster and the Brewers getting worse this offseason, the Cubs could very well have a resurgence next season.

But all the offseason discussions thus far are not a welcoming sign for the future, and the Cubs will continue to be limited by their payroll unless they can make a move that doesn’t sacrifice their immediate future.