Bryce Harper represents the shift in the Chicago Cubs' approach during the offseason. Entering the 2018 season, it seemed that the plan was for the Cubs to prioritize signing Harper in the offseason ahead, establishing a new center at their contending core. Instead, Tom Ricketts' wallet closed up, and the focus for the Cubs has been "intelligent spending" ever since.
In other words, the Cubs were burned by the Jason Heyward deal and the initial return of the Yu Darvish contract, and those two decisions dramatically shifted the front office's approach to free agency.