Bemoaning ownership’s financial restraint isn’t a gripe limited to St. Louis Cardinals fans.
Followers of the Chicago Cubs have long aired similar frustrations, pointing to what they see as a stingy payroll philosophy under chairman Tom Ricketts, a reluctance to spend in line with a franchise that ranks among baseball’s wealthiest and plays in the game’s third-largest market.
But it’s one thing when the team merely refuses to plunge into the deep end of free agency for marquee names. The real sting comes when that frugal approach leads to your own players drifting toward greener pastures.
Such is life on the north side of Chicago, or so it would seem. Because most national pundits think the Cubs will not only lose Kyle Tucker this offseason, but also fail to make a significant addition to replace the All-Star outfielder’s production.
MLB Analysts Predict Cubs Will Not Resign Kyle Tucker
As MLB free agency gets underway, the prevailing opinion, as recently expressed by ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, is that “the Cubs are likely going to let Tucker walk.” Less than a year after acquiring the 28-year-old from the Houston Astros in exchange for third baseman Isaac Paredes, right-hander Hayden Wesneski, and prospect Cam Smith, the Cubs appear resigned to watching yet another talented bat walk away.
And the real salt in the wound is that it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. The Cubs knew the risks in trading for a superstar player with one year remaining before free agency, but Tucker was potentially the piece that would put them over the top, and after that, the mutual admiration society would reign, keeping Tucker in Chicago for the long haul.
Instead, the Cubs made the playoffs as a Wild Card team and outlasted San Diego in the best-of-three Wild Card round before losing to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Division Series. And now, it looks as though they will also lose the player whose arrival in Chicago was supposed to signal the start of annual contention for the World Series championship.
But the insult to injury for Cubs fans is the realization supplied by multiple MLB analysts, who in recent weeks have predicted that their team will probably not invest heavily in the crop of top free agent position players who will be on the market this offseason. Across outlets – from MLB.com to Bleacher Reports to Sports Illustrated to MLB Trade Rumors – there’s a consistent theme: Chicago isn’t expected to chase the brightest bats.
Tucker, Bo Bichette, Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, and Kyle Schwarber headline the list of marquee position players, but few are pegging the Cubs as serious contenders for any of them. Even intriguing options from Japan, such as Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto, or players a tier below, like Eugenio Suárez or Trent Grisham, aren’t being matched to Chicago in most projections.
Cubs' Free Agency Plans Could Target Top-Flight Pitching
Maybe that restraint isn’t as grim as it seems. Maybe it points to a front office ready to trust the group it’s been nurturing for years.
The Cubs have been quietly collecting position talent, and those kids aren’t far off anymore. Pete Crow-Armstrong flashed the outline of a franchise centerpiece. Matt Shaw is pushing the door. And waiting nearby are Owen Caissie, Moises Ballesteros, Kevin Alcantara, each one representing another reason the Cubs may feel comfortable leaning on player development rather than star-chasing.
If that’s indeed the route, then the dollars could shift to the mound, and it would make sense. There are innings to fill and questions to address.
Cade Horton’s rookie season offered the promise of stability, but Justin Steele’s timetable as he recovers from Tommy John surgery means Chicago opens the spring still searching for answers. And with the surprising decision to let Shota Imanaga walk into free agency, the Cubs suddenly look like a team preparing to stock the rotation with higher-end arms. It’s no coincidence that their name keeps popping up next to pitchers like Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, and Ranger Suarez.
It’s a bold approach, maybe even the right one, but it leaves little room for error.
Betting that young hitters will mature on schedule while spending aggressively on pitching is the sort of philosophical gamble that can either accelerate a contender or leave it grasping for impact. And if Tucker slips away without a comparable replacement, the narrative won’t be kind: an elite bat taking the exit ramp while the club talks up its long-range blueprint.
Perhaps the Cubs have a surprise waiting behind the curtain, but the mood around the sport suggests something simpler: Chicago may be shopping differently now, prioritizing arms over thunder. Whether that shift keeps them circling the postseason or pushes them back into the pack is a question that only time can answer.