The Ricketts are who we thought they were. I'm not mad or anything close to that in regards to the Cubs losing out on free agent Alex Bregman, but man was it once again annoying to hear how ownership had to be convinced to even make an offer.
Jed Hoyer spoke to the media about the Cubs' pursuit of Bregman, who signed a three-year contract worth $120 million with the Boston Red Sox. He has the ability to opt out after the first and second year of the deal and as it's become more popular with big-money contracts, the agreement also includes significant deferrals.
The Cubs reportedly offered Bregman a four-year, $115 million contract. Even with the deferrals from the Red Sox that makes the current value about three years for $90 million, Bregman will be earning more AAV than he would have if he had signed with the Cubs. So, if you really wanted Bregman on the Cubs, sure go ahead and pound your first on the table. The offer obviously wasn't up to par and the Red Sox stepped up to secure Bregman.
Ever since the Cody Bellinger trade that freed up some payroll Cubs fans have been expecting that cash to be used to make significant improvements. Yes, some of that was used with Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly, but even after those acquisitions and a couple other moves, the Cubs luxury tax payroll sat at about $209 million. That's $32 million below the first luxury tax tier and you would have thought that the front office would clearly be allowed to spend all that.
Well, it sure does sound like Hoyer had to beg to have the Ricketts even consider going after Bregman.
Jed Hoyer thanked Tom and Laura Ricketts for green lighting him “pushing” the budget in pursuit of Alex Bregman. “Within the structure and our finances, we made the best offer we could make. And I think that ultimately, that's what you have to do in free agency.”
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) February 13, 2025
So, after having a CBT payroll of about $240 million in 2024, the Cubs are currently a bit below the $210 million mark and looking at the rest of the free-agent list it's not like they'll be breaking the bank for any other players.
You can listen to all of Hoyer's comments below, but that specific part about him being allowed to go over their budget last offseason to re-sign Cody Bellinger and how it was a stretch based on the team's financial situation now to pursue Bregman is laughable.
This isn't meant to absolve Hoyer of blame because ultimately he has had plenty of payroll to work with to produce better results on the field during his time running the Cubs. However, to me it's been clear for a while that the Ricketts simply do not care about going above and beyond to improve the product on the field.
Sometimes you do have to "overpay" for players in free agents. That's just the name of the game and Cubs ownership doesn't want to be fully committed to it.
That's why it seems like Hoyer has to win every deal he makes. He knows better than us that the Cubs will spend, but only to a point. Not only does he have to win every deal, he has to be right about that player every time because if not we've seen that ownership won't give him the power to make up for any mistake. One big free agent contract blows up in his face? Well, too bad, that's part of the budget and now there's no more room. Should have spent that money more wisely.
And hey you can definitely argue that yeah, Hoyer's 2024 season was on him. Big payroll and the team fell flat. But it goes beyond that because now we're seeing that when the front office does want to make that final aggressive pickup, it's restricted by ownership's self-imposed salary cap.
Thanks, Ricketts.
