Cubs Trying to Trim Payroll After Burning Themselves with Minimal CBT Overage

One of the ideas making the rounds as a Cody Bellinger trade to the Yankees remains in limbo over the matter of a few million dollars is that the Cubs should just keep him and let the playing time sort itself out. Though it would create a great deal of positional redundancy now that Kyle Tucker has been acquired, having that kind of expensive depth is something a big-market payroll with only one nine-figure contract should easily be able to absorb. Roster Resource currently projects the Cubs at roughly $215 million for 2025, or $26 million under the first level of competitive balance tax penalties.

So why are they seemingly determined to move as much of Bellinger’s minimum $32.5 million…