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

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.