Cubs Have Spent 40% of ALL NL Central Free Agent Dollars This Off-Season

I’m not even sure if I stated that correctly in the title. But, of all the dollars the National League Central has spent on free agency this offseason, the Chicago Cubs have spent 40% of those dollars!?

But Jamie, they’ve only signed Austin Romine to a one-year $1.5 million contract!? That can’t be true!?

I hear ya, but it is true. I have stated this a number of times in multiple articles, and on social media, this season isn’t going to be a very competitive one in the NL Central. The Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the St. Louis Cardinals have all lost players this offseason. So, even with the Cubs trading players away, and non-tendering others, they are still going to be competitive.

Now, they aren’t going to compete for a World Series, and I think that is what ownership and Jed Hoyer have identified. This is why they’ve allowed this step-back, so they can hopefully leap forward. Here is a rundown of all the spending (to date) in baseball:

MLB Off-Season Spending, by division to date:

AL East: $307M
NL East: $143M
AL Central: $124M
NL West: $98M
AL West: $83M
NL Central: $3.7M

7 teams (STL, PIT, ARI, COL, BAL, CLE) with either zero signings or only new minor league deals. 🥴

— Matt Whitener (@CheapSeatFan) January 26, 2021

It is amazing that the NL Central has spent just 1% of the dollars the AL East has spent. Hell, the Blue Jays have committed $190.5m this offseason alone, which is more than the Reds and Cardinals total payrolls combined ($181.2m).

This is insulting and borderline abusive. There are fans that support this organization. Yes, we understand that there are times you push the gas and times you pump the brakes. But after Tom Ricketts now famously said, “But I don’t think anybody’s tearing anything down,” that is exactly what started to happen.

Look, there are a legitimate business and competitive reasons to pull back some reigns, but you cannot tell the fans one thing in November and then a month later do exactly what you said you weren’t doing. It is this continued disrespect from the Ricketts to the Cubs fanbase that is bothersome.

I think Tom hasn’t changed his opinion of the Cub fanbase. He believes we are a dumb group that will continue to support the team regardless of what is happening with it. In fact, that was his pitch to his daddy when he went to him for money to buy the Cubs. This interaction between Tom and Joe Ricketts has stuck in my head this entire offseason and solidifies my opinion that they just look at the fans as dumb lemmings.

Joe: “Why would I want to buy a baseball team?…”
Tom: “…They sell every ticket, every game, win or lose.”
Joe: “Now you’re talking about a business. Now you’ve got my interest.”

Baseball Prospectus

That was from the Ricketts while attending the 2010 Midland Venture Forum. Maybe the best way for Cubs fans to support this organization is to stop buying tickets to every game. By not flooding the coffers of the Ricketts family, perhaps we start to force their hand. Sure, in the short-term they will reduce payroll and such, but perhaps in the long-term, we show them how to be responsible owners. If they don’t, perhaps they get the message and sell the team. Yes, Tom, we are still booing.

Yikes. Fans booing owner Tom Ricketts about Marquee network wasn’t a great start to #CubsCon pic.twitter.com/AVg4ui4ntb

— Madeline Kenney (@madkenney) January 18, 2020