‘I guess this is the Cubs’ version of going all-in’: What to make of Chicago’s confusing offseason
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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
CHICAGO — For consecutive offseasons, the Chicago Cubs have given mixed signals to their fans and the rest of the baseball world.
Last winter, they sent shockwaves through the sport when they fired David Ross and lured Craig Counsell from Milwaukee by making him the highest paid manager ever. After the bold move to start the offseason, it looked like the Cubs could follow with a big spending spree.
Instead, what ensued was a “measured” offseason, according to one rival executive who went into that winter worried the Cubs might outspend the division. Chicago did make some deft moves — signing pitcher Shota Imanaga, acquiring first baseman Michael Busch from the Los Angeles Dodgers and waiting out the market to bring back Cody Bellinger — but the splashy roster addition many expected never occurred.
Their 2024 results resembled their conservative offseason approach. After winning 83 games under Ross in 2023, the Cubs posted another 83-win season under their new $40 million manager.
Fast-forward to this winter and the team once again started boldly, this time with a blockbuster trade for Houston Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker. But while Cubs fans were still celebrating the addition of a veteran star, Chicago turned around and traded away another when it shipped Bellinger — and most of his $52.5 million contract — to the New York Yankees. Tucker will make around $16 million to $18 million in 2025 through the arbitration system, compared to Bellinger’s $27.5 million salary for next season.
“I guess this is the Cubs’ version of going all-in,” one agent said sarcastically.
All of this is happening against the backdrop of not making the playoffs in a full season since 2018 while exceeding the luxury tax threshold for the 2024 season — and with president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer entering the final year of his contract.
Here’s how the franchise has become stuck in the middle.
RECENTLY, HOYER WAS asked about the concept of being all-in.
“I always think that all-in is sort of a narrative,” he said. “You’re always doing moves for now and the future and trying to balance those.”
When Chicago traded for Tucker, it signaled an urgency to win in 2025 and a shift in that balance. The Cubs sent three years of team control for third baseman Isaac Paredes, five years for pitcher Hayden Wesneski and six years for prospect Cam Smith to the Astros. All for just one guaranteed season of Tucker, since he can become a free agent after the season.
It was a move outside their comfort zone, one Hoyer said he would not have made back in 2021 or 2022 when the team was at the beginning of a rebuild.
“To acquire a player like that, it comes at a real price,” he said. “But it’s a price we’re willing to pay given the fact that’s something we felt all summer we lacked and wanted to bring to this team.”
The move gave the Cubs a deep lineup featuring left-handed power throughout the order including Tucker, Happ, Bellinger, Busch and Pete Crow-Armstong — until Bellinger was quickly flipped to New York.
While the moves might have confused fans, the front office has been transparent about what is driving its offseason decisions.
“Marginal value of a win,” general manager Carter Hawkins said. “If you’re going from 85 to 87 wins, [it’s] really important. That might be the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs. Going from 75 to 77, not that important. You’re unlikely to make the playoffs.”
After Counsell’s first season at the helm failed to produce a playoff berth, the Cubs have replaced a good player in Bellinger with a better one in Tucker, while adding Matthew Boyd to the rotation to replace Kyle Hendricks, and are hoping these incremental upgrades will get them back to October.
MUCH OF THE reason the Cubs are spending their offseason focused on creating value in trades comes from a reluctance to play in the deepest end of free agency, including choosing not to make a run at top free agent Juan Soto.
“I think we organizationally decided not to pursue that one,” Hoyer said earlier this month at the winter meetings. “That doesn’t mean in the future we won’t. But that was one we didn’t.”
You can also cross off ace Corbin Burnes. And Max Fried, who signed with the Yankees. And anyone else in line for a huge payday.
Though the Cubs’ front office has the ability to be fluid with its budget, according to sources familiar with the situation, it’s become obvious the team isn’t going to increase its payroll by any significant margin. They are likely to reallocate the savings from the Bellinger-Tucker swap to other areas of the team, according to sources. The Cubs might even reduce their payroll in 2025, but ownership has always been open to what the front office presents them, whether that comes in the winter or during the summer trading period. The team believes it spends enough to win, but also understands that the payroll isn’t enough to guarantee 90-win seasons.
“We have to beat projections,” Hoyer famously said at the beginning of the offseason. “We have to have players outperform … that’s how you have the season that we want to have.”
Chicago was one of three teams that missed the playoffs despite being over the luxury tax threshold last season. Over the last half-decade, however, Chicago hasn’t spent on its payroll to keep up with other big-market teams that routinely exceed the luxury tax number and it remains to be seen if ownership will allow the front office to do so again in 2025, with stiffer penalties for a second consecutive offense.
The addition of a new television network in 2020 hasn’t been the cash cow the team thought it would be, according to sources familiar with the situation. Meanwhile, private equity investment has ownership answering to more than just a handful of local minority investors like it did previously. The bottom line is more of a concern than ever, with some industry observers believing the Cubs won’t sign a megadeal for a player before the next labor agreement is negotiated with the players after the 2026 season.
That means Tucker could be one-and-done at Wrigley Field. After Soto helped set the market when he signed for $765 million, the soon-to-be free agent has likely already priced himself out of Chicago. Signing an extension before he hits free agency seems unlikely and some industry observers already believe the odds are low that he will re-sign with Chicago next winter.
“There is no point in speculating on that today as we sit here in December,” Hoyer said.
Tucker had a similar noncommittal response at his introductory news conference: “I’m always open to talks and see where it leads. You never know what the future is going to hold. We’ll see how things progress.”
Perhaps just making the playoffs in 2025 would be enough to quiet the noise if Tucker leaves, but it could also help the Cubs keep the 27-year-old, three-time All-Star on the off chance he’d take a discount to stay.
Whether the Cubs are playing in October could also serve as a litmus test for Hoyer. Ownership has always held a positive view of Hoyer, but the franchise has yet to win a postseason game since he moved into his current role in November 2020. While ownership isn’t necessarily looking to make a change, there’s belief around the organization that Hoyer’s performance will be more scrutinized in 2025 than at any time during his tenure with the Cubs.
“My own situation is not a concern,” Hoyer said. “I don’t look at it that way. I’ve been in the game for a long time. I’m confident in my abilities and my résumé. My job always is to be the best steward of the organization.
“I try to make good decisions for the Ricketts family. Try to make sure I’m setting us up for a good future but I’m also setting us up for an exciting present.”
LOS ANGELES — Veteran forward Evander Kane made his season debut for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Defenseman John Klingberg also returned from a lengthy injury absence as the Oilers attempted to even the series.
Kane is a 15-year NHL veteran who hasn’t played for the Oilers since Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final last June. He had surgery last September to repair a sports hernia, and he underwent knee surgery in January.
Kane was slotted on to the Oilers’ second line alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman.
Klingberg hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury while blocking a shot March 27 in Seattle. The Swedish veteran signed with Edmonton in January after going unsigned early in the season, but he played in only 11 games while dealing with multiple injuries.
The Oilers are hoping Klingberg can help their blue line, which frequently struggled in the Kings’ 6-5 victory in Game 1.
Jeff Skinner was scratched by the Oilers to make room for Kane. The 15-year NHL veteran forward made his Stanley Cup playoff debut in Game 1, recording an assist.
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Ryan S. Clark
Chris Drury and the New York Rangers agreed to a multiyear contract extension on Wednesday, keeping him at the helm of the team’s hockey operations after missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
“I am pleased that Chris will continue to lead the Rangers hockey operations in his role as president and general manager,” Madison Square Garden chairman and CEO James Dolan said in a statement. “Over his tenure, Chris has shown passion for the Rangers, relentless work ethic and a tireless pursuit of excellence.
“While we are all disappointed in what transpired this past season, I am confident in his ability to guide this organization to success.”
Drury, 48, took over as general manager and president of hockey operations at the start of the 2021-22 season. The Rangers reached the playoffs in his first three seasons.
His future was one of a few items that remained in question, with the intent that the Rangers would use this offseason to reload in their bid to return to the playoffs. The team also is facing a third coaching search in four seasons after firing Peter Laviolette following his two seasons.
“I am honored to sign this contract extension and continue in this position with the team I grew up supporting,” said Drury, a former Rangers captain who played four seasons with the team. “As I said when I began in this role nearly four years ago, there isn’t a more special organization in hockey, and I look forward to continuing our work this offseason to help us reach our goals for next season and in the coming years.”
After winning the Presidents’ Trophy and reaching the Eastern Conference finals under Laviolette in the 2023-24 season, the Rangers started 12-4-1 this season, only to lose the next five games. That started a chain reaction of inconsistent play that ultimately led to the Rangers finishing six points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
While the Rangers sought to make the playoffs, Drury also made it known they were open for business in December. That’s when they traded captain Jacob Trouba, who still had a year left on his contract, to the Anaheim Ducks. A few weeks later, they traded Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, to the Seattle Kraken for defenseman Will Borgen, who would then sign an extension with the Rangers.
A month before the trade deadline, the Rangers reacquired J.T. Miller in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers also traded defenseman Ryan Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche and forward Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights while adding defensemen Carson Soucy in a separate deal with the Canucks.
Still, the Rangers lost four consecutive games in early March before having two three-game losing streaks that further damaged their chances in the Eastern Conference wild-card race.
Now that Drury has a new contract, he’ll be charged with trying to improve a roster that PuckPedia projects will have only $9.67 million in available cap space. K’Andre Miller, Zac Jones and Matt Rempe are part of the club’s eight-player restricted free agent class, while the Rangers have only two unrestricted free agents in Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Calvin de Haan.
Drury will be looking for a coach in what is expected to be a competitive market. Anaheim and Seattle also fired their coaches, and three other teams — Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia — ended the season with interim coaches. The Canucks declined the option on coach Rick Tocchet, but they have offered him a new, more lucrative contract.
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