Chicago Cubs: Here’s where payroll stands heading into the offseason

The Chicago Cubs brass has all but transitioned into offseason mode as the final week of the regular season wraps up. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has already gone on the record saying that they will be “very active” in free agency this winter. After tearing down the team at the trade deadline, the goal for this transition phase is to be quick.

The “biblical losses” excuse not to spend on quality free agents this winter will not fly with fans and media alike with what the payroll situation has shaped up to be. Even with the refusal to add additional significant salaries to the books the past several years, the Cubs were still among the top teams in payroll. With so much money coming off the books, the situation will be drastically different this time around.

Committed payroll is only part of the equation. There is a long list of arbitration and pre-arb players that will factor into the team’s payroll in 2022. Even with all of that mixed together though, there should be plenty of financial flexibility this offseason to make moves. Of course, one would be justified to ask whether or not they will actually use that flexibility to spend on enough quality players.