Theo Epstein took over the baseball side of the Cubs after the 2011 season and ever since he’s been pretty upfront about what the team’s plan is going to be. After missing the postseason for the first time since 2014, Epstein echoed his call from 2018 that change was coming, but that the Cubs were still going to compete in 2020, while keeping an eye toward the future.
However, still being competitive in 2020 and trying to add younger talent beyond 2021 was an ambitious task from the start. As each day in the offseason passes it’s become clear that the plan can’t include being a competitive team next season.
Instead of being in on top free agents to bolster the starting rotation or add an impact bat to the lineup, the Cubs are waiting for Josh Donaldson to sign so that they can then attack the trade market with Kris Bryant. Instead of targeting a top reliever the Cubs are exploring how much they can get back in a trade for Willson Contreras.
Forget about the top tier, middle tier or bottom tier of free agency because for the second consecutive offseason the Cubs front office is handcuffed by financial restraints. It truly is an embarrassment that a team in the third largest market in the country, one of the highest revenue teams in the sport is going around telling players that they can’t afford to sign major league deals.
And it’s not so much the quality of player that the Cubs can’t afford to sign right now it’s the fact that they can’t even afford to sign them that’s the problem.
Eric Sogard signed with the Brewers, a one-year deal worth $4.5 million. Whatever, he’s not that good anyway. And it’s probably smarter to rely on a few Triple-A pitchers than blow another $5 million on a possible bounce back type reliever, but Cubs fans aren’t asking for the biggest free agents to be signed right now. Would it be nice and could the Ricketts afford it? Yeah, but how about Brock Holt, or César Hernández who’d be great fits on the Cubs without costing too much money. But no, apparently those guys are too expensive as well and even upgrading in center field with a guy like Shogo Akiyama might end up being too expensive as well. We’ll see this week.
So, instead of just spending a few million bucks here and there to fill in the holes on the roster, the Cubs are signing bad players to minor league deals hoping they get something from them.
The Cubs want to add another second baseman, but once again they can only sign guys to minor league deals right now because if they want anyone who’s actually good they have to unload payroll first. So, add Joe Panik to the list of guys the Cubs might bring in this offseason.
Via The Athletic.
Only 29, Panik has a contact rate hovering around 90 percent throughout his career and can play a strong second base, but in the last four seasons, he has produced a wRC+ of 86, 104, 77 and 76, respectively. Like Brach, Cedeño and Barnette, Panik is a perfectly acceptable low-cost flyer. He’s the type of player whose market is so depressed due to poor recent performance that it’s worth it to take a chance on a bounce-back season. But you can’t count on him.
The plan seems pretty clear to fans right now. Get under the $208 million luxury tax payroll. That’s the only mandate the front office is following this offseason. Fuck actually trying to get better, who wants to do that? Save money, that’s where the real fun is at.
