Cubs Are Going To Regret Scaling Back Their Spending This Offseason

The Chicago Cubs fell woefully short of expectations during the 2024 season, winning only 83 games for the second straight year.

Looking to ensure that doesn’t happen again, the team made one of the biggest moves of the offseason, acquiring right fielder Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros.

The Cubs have a lot of good players in their lineup but lacked that bonafide star to anchor the group and lead the way. They now have that in Tucker, who is a three-time All-Star with a top-five MVP finish already on his resume.

In the discussion as one of the 10 best position players in baseball, he is going to elevate the performance of everyone around him in the Chicago lineup.

However, it is fair to wonder if the team did enough outside of adding Tucker to make a move up the standings.

Many preseason predictions have the Cubs as the best team in the National League Central, but the fact it is even up for debate is concerning.

They are going to regret not being more aggressive on the market, and as Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report put it, their biggest regret will be the ownership group coming off as cheap if this is a one-and-done campaign with Tucker.

“But there is a sense this is going to be a one-year arrangement. It's like the Cubs—who play in one of the biggest markets in the sport and have a stadium that's a cash cow because it's a tourist attraction—are a mom-and-pop shop,” Kelly wrote.

Inexplicably, the team’s payroll was slashed this past winter compared to 2024. They are spending less money but projected to make a jump in the standings, which normally isn’t how success correlates in the MLB.

There are a few young players the team will be counting on to produce as everyday players that keep payroll low, such as center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, first baseman Michael Busch and star prospect Matt Shaw at third base.

But that should have been all the more reason to spend money elsewhere on the roster.

Instead of shopping at the top tier of free agency, which their market size would suggest, Chicago went bargain bin shopping at the onset of free agency, coming away with starting pitcher Matthew Boyd.

And instead of making a push for one of the established closers on the free agent market, which there were plenty of, the Cubs made another trade with the Astros to acquire their former closer Ryan Pressly.

Chicago is in a similar position as the New York Yankees were with Juan Soto, who that franchise acquired with one more year of club control before he hit free agency.

Soto is considered the best comp for Tucker on a long-term extension, and the Cubs are certainly hoping their situation doesn’t play out the same way, since Soto left after that one season.

Convincing Tucker to stay with the team long term would have been easier had ownership shown they were willing to spend this offseason. But the optics aren’t great that they cut payroll, seemingly doing a halfway job with roster upgrades.

It was only two games, but the Tokyo Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers to start the season can't have fans feeling great about the gap that exists between their favorite team and a true World Series contender.

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