People toss that argument around, but I don’t buy it. It may be a reason why the Cubs don’t spend like the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, etc., but this idea that the Cubs are super cheap and are doing it the way they want to doesn’t hold water for me. Cubs are going to spend right around the CBT, which will keep them in the top 10 for payroll and they’ve shown in the past (even after winning the ring) that they’ll go top 5 at times.
I won’t argue with anyone who says the Cubs should spend more. They should. They have a top 3 most expensive fan experience in the game, they have huge revenue streams, their own TV network, etc…..BUT ALSO they spend enough to win. They outspent everyone in their division by at least $20M and they outspent the Brewers by almost $80M last year. No way Tom insists on spending that much and also insists on spending it poorly. If you believe Tom is all about the maximizing the cash flow (and I think there’s a strong argument there), there’s no way he wants to spend north of $235M and miss the added revenue and excitement that playoffs bring.
Tom Ricketts and Crane Kenney (Pres of the business side) have both said multiple times over the last 2 years that Jed had more money to spend than he spent. Jed is just too risk averse and there’s seemingly nobody in his decision making chain pushing the aggressive position. I preferred it when Theo Epstein was running it - he was naturally aggressive and then had Jed as his #2 to rein him in a bit (sometimes not enough). You need both perspectives and the Cubs seem to be in full risk-averse mode. They don’t have a single contract on that roster that’s anywhere close to a bad contract. Certainly a team doesn’t want to load up on bad contracts (looking at you, Angels), but if you have none, you’re not pushing hard enough. Sometimes you just have to identify your guy and go get him.
