Chicago Cubs Boss Hints at Budget Issues for Lack of Offseason Moves

The Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations reveals why the team didn’t make other moves to land pitching in the offseason.

Nov 13, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer speaks before introducing Craig Counsell as new Cubs manager during a press conference in Chicago. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The start of the season for the Chicago Cubs couldn’t have gone much worse. Jameson Taillon was already out with back issues and Justin Steele went on the injured list after straining his hamstring in the opener.

For a team that has aspirations of making the postseason and winning the National League Central, the Cubs have to hope for better injury luck moving forward.

These injuries pose the question of if Chicago could’ve done more during the offseason after putting together solid moves, but many felt they could have accomplished much more.

On the mound, landing Shota Imanaga was the major addition.

The Japanese star looked sensational in his first career start on Monday, tossing six scoreless innings and allowing just two hits, while striking out nine.

While Imanaga did impress, the Cubs have to find a way to get production out of the rest of their rotation. If they made moves during the offseason, such as signing Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell, they’d be able to take these hits.

Instead, Jed Hoyer makes it sound like the front office had a budget limit while speaking to Jon Greenberg of The Athletic.

“You always want to add more,” Hoyer said Monday. “I think at some point you realize that whether there’s roster construction limits or whether it’s your budget, there’s a limit to what you can do. So I don’t think there’s any point looking back on that, wondering ‘what if.’”

If the budget was the issue, that’s a major concern for this organization.

After making Craig Counsell the highest-paid manager in baseball, the expectation was for Chicago to spend as much as needed to form a World Series roster.

Moves can still be made on the trade market to land a starting pitcher, which might be what the Cubs need to do after all these injuries.

In the future, budget should not be an issue if they want to truly become contenders to win a World Series title again.