Cubs fans shouldn’t be fooled by executive’s latest comments

The Chicago Cubs are once again trying to pinch pennies at the MLB Trade Deadline, and saving up for 2023. How many years will they try this approach?

Chicago’s front office wasted a golden opportunity with the best core it had in decades, only to eventually trade them all away. The days of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javy Baez and Kyle Schwarber are long gone.

Some can argue it was the right decision to move on, and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with them. The question remains, though: Where do the Cubs go from here?

“We have a lot of money left at the end of this year that we need to spend. All of that will roll over for next year,” President Crane Kenney said on 670 The Score’s “Inside the Clubhouse.” “And again, we trust our baseball operations to make good decisions with those proceeds and they’ll either use them next year or down the line.”

Should Cubs fans trust the front office at this point?

Chicago has the 14th-highest payroll in the majors. The money, of course, reflects the talent level of the team. The Cubs play in one of the largest baseball markets in America. They have an iconic stadium, and an ownership group that can afford to spend more.

Yet, they made modest moves last offseason after punting on a core that helped them with their first World Series in 108 years. That same core, I can assure you, made them a lot of money.

The Cubs went from third in payroll in 2020, to falling out of the top-10 entirely in 2021. They rank even lower this year. Money doesn’t always translate to wins, but it has to be frustrating to fans to witness this team struggle to the level it has when the NL Central, and perhaps National League as a whole, is as wide open as it’s ever been.