Jeff Passan's 'perfect' offseason move for Cubs ignores painful Jed Hoyer stance

There's been no shortage of national insiders to call out the Chicago Cubs for their lack of spending in recent years, and ESPN's Jeff Passan seems to have joined the chorus. While outlining the perfect move for the Cubs this offseason, Passan does make note that the Cubs have money to spend this winter, and there is no time better than now.

"The Cubs aren't the sort of team inclined to pay pitchers for past-their-prime years, and while that tends to be the sort of thing that's incompatible with free agency, there happens to be a 27-year-old available this winter who won't even cost a draft pick to sign. It's just money, and seeing as the Cubs don't spend a whole lot of that -- their current projected payroll is around $150 million -- now seems the right time to splurge a little."

Jeff Passan makes a Chicago Cubs' offseason point that even they can't ignore.

Passan is making the case for the Cubs to sign Tatsuya Imai, who is set to be posted by the Seibu Tigers this offseason. As Passan notes, it's not just a matter of the Cubs not spending money; they also avoid the top of the free-agent market for starting pitching help. The last time the Cubs went to the top of the market for a starting pitcher was Yu Darvish, and that's the deal that is believed to have shifted their spending strategy.

Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, Ranger Suarez, and Michael King are the pitchers at the top of this year's free-agent class, and all have qualifying offers attached. While the Cubs have been connected to Valdez, Cease, and Suarez this offseason, expecting the front office to break that trend and sign a pitcher to a deal north of $100MM while also giving up draft pick compensation feels like multiple levels of aggressiveness that Jed Hoyer isn't known for.

Aggressive for Hoyer would be pursuing Imai, who likely has his best seasons ahead of him. That said, with Scott Boras involved, the bidding could reach a point where the Cubs are uncomfortable. Considering they have yet to take the NL Central from the Milwaukee Brewers, a case can be made that they should be willing to do the uncomfortable thing this offseason, but they likely won't, considering their stubborn nature.