The weekend announcement of Kyle Schwarber’s signing with the Nationals brought out all the doomsayers again, those who think the Cubs are “tanking” or are going to trade away all their stars before the 2021 season begins. There were rumors all over Cubs Twitter (one of the reasons I steer clear of most of it) that Kris Bryant was going to be traded this weekend. Didn’t happen, and probably won’t before the season begins.
One thing is clear: Cubs ownership could put more money into the 2021 payroll if they chose to do so, because even with their non-stated apparent goal of staying under the first luxury-tax threshold, they’re several tens of millions of dollars under it at this juncture.