Cubs make a bizarre move amidst rumors of cost-cutting measures

The Chicago Cubs' hot stretch during the closing weeks of August should not mask that the 2024 season has been a disappointment.

Beyond the disappointment that has been the Cubs' on the field, off the field hasn't been much better. It seemed that everyone was on the same page at the start of the season in that the first level of the luxury tax was a cap for the Cubs' payroll spending.

That is why the first question that will need to be answered in full by Jed Hoyer this offseason is how the team wound up over the luxury tax this season. In recent weeks, Hoyer has talked about the Cubs going over the luxury tax this year as if it wasn't a big deal which, in theory, it shouldn't be but considering how the team's external payroll projections stopped just short of the luxury tax threshold, it's clear it was on the mind of the team's executives. To that end, if the Cubs went over this offseason, as Hoyer suggested was caused by the Cody Bellinger contract, it should have given the Cubs an incentive to spend at least $20MM more this past winter.

Hoyer and the Cubs' front office are saying one thing but their moves, such as hoping a team claimed Drew Smyly, suggest the team is operating as if the baseball department is a line item on Tom Ricketts' general ledger.

The Cubs keep finding ways to be cheap.

Along those lines, the front office took it a step further this weekend, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that not only did the Cubs dismiss four scouts in a budget-slashing move, but they've also issued a new mandate.

The Cubs also told their scouting department that they no longer will scout games at any level except the complex league and Dominican Summer League.

This shouldn't give Cubs fans an easy feeling as the team heads into an offseason when external changes are needed if the final year of Hoyer's contract is going to be salvaged. The Cubs seem to be leaning toward Hoyer as not only the top voice of the baseball operation but also the top evaluator, a concerning reality since the Cubs have yet to reach the postseason during Hoyer's tenure as the President of Baseball Operations while he has blind faith in internal solutions.