Levine: Huge Spending Not Part Of Cubs' Offseason Plan
By Bruce Levine--
BOCA RATON, Fla. (CBS) -- The big spending spree predicted for the Chicago Cubs, coming off a 97-win season, was tempered by the comments of president of baseball operations Theo Epstein on Monday at the general manager meetings.
Noting the Cubs will have more money in the future to spend, Epstein said adding two large contracts in the offseason would be close to impossible to accomplish.
"We will explore everything," Epstein said here in Florida. "Adding some quality pitching is one of our primary goals. You explore all avenues. You never know how an offseason will go. Last year we were able to land our target in some areas (Jon Lester). In others, we landed a secondary choice. We were able to check off items in each area we wanted to address. Sometimes you must follow a more creative path. We will see how this one goes."
Epstein joked with media members that he was sorry we had to come all the way to Florida to watch him return to the lobby in sweats after an early evening run. Basically, he was letting us know that the process for adding to his playoff squad from 2015 will take some time.
So moving forward, the idea that the Cubs could sign a David Price and a Jason Heyward doesn't register with the revenue stream that Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer have available presently. Adding $50 million to the payroll may be easy after 2020 when a new local TV deal should be in place with windfall dollars for the franchise. As for 2016, moving parts may allow the one big signing and numerous lesser moves.
"If we want to do two (big) things, we would have to be pretty creative," Epstein said. "Even if we want to do one really big thing (Price or Zack Greinke, for example), we will have to be creative. I think we can add a little bit from where we are right now. Arbitration raises also cut into things quite a bit. Yes, we have to get creative. The situation is we will have more money down the line than we have right now. We have the ability to add a little bit."
Epstein did give a ray of hope to Cubs fans who will soon see a 10 percent increase in ticket prices over 2015.
"Adding two pieces isn't impossible," he clarified. "There are a lot of moving parts. We could trade some salary or players in exchange for salary and players. There are always ways to get things done if they make sense for the club."
Signing a Price or Greinke may come without being able to get a Jeff Samardzija or Jordan Zimmermann in the same offseason. The Cubs should have an extra $25 million to $30 million to add to their payroll in 2016, which had a base of $100 million in 2015.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
