The 2018-19 Cubs offseason was characterized by very limited spending, but this offseason may have an even tighter budget. In addition to budget overages and questions about Marquee Sports Network, a desire to avoid increased penalties and the loss of various rebates for exceeding the luxury tax threshold in consecutive years may be forcing the belt tightening.
Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic recently made clear ($) just how low the spending ceiling seems to be. Eric Sogard‘s $4.5 million contract was reportedly too big for the Cubs to take on, but Sharma indicated that even reliever Alex Claudio’s $1.