Will Jed Hoyer, Tom Ricketts rise to the challenge or leave Cubs fans disappointed?

The odds of Juan Soto or Corbin Burnes playing for the Chicago Cubs in 2025 are slim. Frankly, the chances of the former calling Wrigley Field home are non-existent. But after manager Craig Counsell and numerous players aired their frustrations with the media this week, saying the bar needs to be higher, it's worth asking ourselves: will Tom Ricketts and Jed Hoyer deliver?

Chicago, is by no means, penny-pinching. Roster Resource has them at just over $238 million in luxury tax payroll this season, slightly over the first CBT threshold. With somewhere between $50 and $90 million coming off the books, Hoyer will have tremendous financial flexibility - and he'll need every bit of it to smooth the edges of this talented, but flawed Cubs roster.

The biggest factor in this equation is last year's NL Comeback Player of the Year Cody Bellinger, who has not yet determined whether or not he'll opt into the second year of the three-year, $80 million deal he inked this spring. If he doesn't the Cubs will be near that $90 million mark; if he sticks around, then the lower end - near $50 million.

Tom Ricketts is in his sweet spot in terms of payroll. He's publicly stated that the first luxury tax mark is a logical place for the Cubs to be. That point is worth debating, but one thing is for sure: it cannot handcuff the front office from making serious pursuits at top-end free agents. The Cubs lack star power - and have for years now.

Hoyer hasn't made a serious run at a blue-chip free agent since taking the reins from Theo Epstein in 2020. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent rebuild played a large role in that, but at some point, Chicago will need to act like the large-market whale it is and step in the ring with teams like the Phillies and Dodgers who haven't shied away from long-term, high-dollar signings.

Counsell's comments read pretty clearly to me: this is a team that needs more impact talent. His 'we should be trying to build 90-win teams here,' remark felt like a jab at Hoyer, who seemed to approach roster-building trying to emulate last year's NL pennant-winning Diamondbacks, a team that barely snuck into the postseason only to catch fire come October.

Making Counsell the highest-paid manager in the game only to expect him to wave a magic wand to remedy a roster with clear issues is akin to putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound. Arm him with a roster built not just to compete in the division, but dominate it - and then watch him earn that paycheck.