Chicago Cubs: Frugal offseason approaches didn’t matter in the end

Cubs kept running it back – while tirelessly watching their spending

Despite that September collapse and subsequent Wild Card Game loss in the 2018 postseason, Epstein did little to shore up a roster that was clearly flawed. He stuck with manager Joe Maddon, and the most notable offseason acquisition that winter was veteran infielder Daniel Descalso.

Bryce Harper was a free agent. Cubs fans were smitten with the idea of Harper teaming up with longtime friend Kris Bryant for years to come on the North Side. But that was not to come to fruition. Missteps by Epstein had backed him into a corner in the eyes of ownership – which was no longer willing to keep throwing money at the roster in order to fix it.

Essentially, Epstein and the front office was tasked to lie in the bed it had made.

The result? Well, you guessed it. Chicago won just 84 games, despite a midseason signing of Craig Kimbrel – finishing third in the NL Central and missing the postseason for the first time since 2014. The Cubs and Maddon went their separate ways, bringing about a new era on the North Side.

A managerial search that always seemed destined to end with David Ross getting the job concluded in late October 2019. So was this a precursor to major change and roster shake-up. Hardly.

Cubs won a division title, but were never serious World Series contenders

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After eclipsing the luxury tax threshold in 2019, we knew the front office was essentially operating under a mandate to get under that number in 2020. So the offseason was once again quiet at the team’s Gallagher Way offices – with only minimal changes to the roster of the first-year manager Ross.

Steven Souza Jr. marked the team’s largest free agent signing – at one year, $1 million. The Cubs picked up options on Jose Quintana and Anthony Rizzo, while losing a bevy of guys, including fan favorite Nicholas Castellanos, Cole Hamels, Cishek, Brandon Kintzler and Pedro Strop.

So the team ran it back, yet again, knowing full well they were playing with a flawed roster, especially in terms of its offensive makeup. Ross guided Chicago to a division crown in the unprecedented 60-game campaign – but, once again, it was clear the Cubs weren’t the real deal.

Where does this leave a team that seems stuck in limbo? Well, according to the Associated Press, Chicago finished with the fifth-highest payroll in MLB this year – behind the likes of the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets and Astros. They exceeded the luxury tax threshold despite their penny-pinching ways. But at the end of it all, the chaos of 2020 looks like it’ll be their saving grace after all.

Cubs will get a clean slate under new president of baseball ops Jed Hoyer

Chicago had been insistent on re-setting their luxury tax penalties. We knew this and it was reinforced, constantly, by the team’s approach to roster-building in recent years. Despite their inability to do so – they’ll avoid the major impact of their actions, giving new president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer a chance to remake the roster in the years to come.

As part of the deal reached by MLB to play the shortened 60-game season, a few things were put into effect: there would be no payment of a luxury tax this year and no revenue-sharing between large-market and small-market clubs. That’s good news for the Cubs, who lost tens of millions of dollars without the usual ballpark and Wrigleyville experience.

So, here we are. We’ve heard for years that the team needed to be more fiscally responsible and the luxury tax loomed large like the eye of Sauron over every move the team made – or didn’t make.

Now, none of it matters. The Cubs will be under that mark in 2021, resetting the clock on any penalties and, perhaps, giving Hoyer more flexibility should the game return to a sense of normalcy next season.