Cubs Rumors: Jed Hoyer has 'green light' to spend from Tom Ricketts

Woo, boy. It's been a day of Cubs rumors with the Winter Meetings off and running in San Diego - and the last hour or so has been particularly juicy. From reports that there are scenarios where the Cubs come away with not one, but two of the three remaining star free agent shortstops to meetings with Carlos Correa, things are popping off.

Cubs rumors are piling up as the Winter Meetings pick up steam

The cherry on top comes from David Kaplan, who offered this tidbit on owner Tom Ricketts giving the front office the 'all clear' when it comes to major spending.

Now, this is definitely an 'actions speak louder than words' scenario given the actions of the organization over the last two years - but if it proves to be true and Ricketts is ready to break out the checkbook, we could be poised for a dramatic turn of events on the North Side.

The Cubs remain focused on not only adding at least one of Xander Bogaerts, Dansby Swanson and Carlos Correa, but also on bolstering the starting rotation, specifically honing in on Kodai Senga and Chris Bassitt. Such moves won't come cheap - and no matter how much Jed Hoyer wants to bust out the big guns, he, of course, needs Ricketts' OK.

Hoyer told the media on Monday night the Cubs are focused almost exclusively on the free agent market right now - and Gordon Wittenmyer believing the free agent shortstops could come off the board sooner than anticipated, it's all hands on deck. The good news? We're finally getting those rumors we've been wishing for. The bad news? We're living in a baseball world that's living on West Coast time.