The Chicago Cubs are on pace to miss the postseason for the fourth consecutive year and this team hasn’t won a playoff series since 2017. Years removed from being World Series contenders, there appear to be more problems looming on the horizon.
Chicago is no longer one of the biggest spenders in baseball, but the offseason signing of starting pitcher Shota Imanaga and re-signing Cody Bellinger did push the Cubs payroll over $220 million this season. However, the team still underperformed and enters MLB games today outside the playoff picture.
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While it’s become clear that the Cubs roster isn’t good enough for this team to seriously contend, let alone compete for a World Series, there is uncertainty regarding the future. The Ricketts family doesn’t want to maintain one of the highest MLB payrolls in the years to come and that might be the very source of a few problems right now in Chicago.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, there is “friction” within the Cubs front office this year. Despite the turmoil going on in Chicago and the team missing the playoffs again, the Cubs are expected to retain Hoyer for the 2025 season.
There’s another issue, too. Nightengale notes that Chicago is among the MLB teams making cuts to the scouting department. Recently, the Cubs reportedly parted ways with four of their younger scouts as part of budget reduction and they informed their scouting department that the organization won’t scout games at any level outside of the complex league and Dominican Summer League.
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It’s become increasingly popular over the last few years for teams to cut payroll, which boosts revenue and can allow an organization to spend more money on scouting and player development. However, since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, some teams have also made significant cuts to their scouting department.
While it’s certainly not a recipe for success, Cubs’ ownership is seemingly pushing for the budget to be slashed and the first hits are coming from the scouting department. Considering the team’s lack of success this season and the divide within the organization, it seems unlikely that the Cubs will be major players in free agency or the trade market this winter.
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