Cubs Sign Free Agent, According to Sources
Three months into a deeply weird offseason, baseball's second-most confusing team finally adds to its roster.
When the Cubs hired manager Craig Counsell away from their rival Brewers on Nov. 7 in a move that shocked the baseball world, it seemed clear that the team was exiting the halfway in/halfway out mode that defined its last several years and entering a win-now era that it never should have left after capturing the 2016 world championship.
After all, this wasn’t just any old managerial hire: The Cubs committed a record $40 million over the next five years to the talented skipper, and ate whatever money was remaining on former manager David Ross’ contract to be rid of him. (For reference, Counsell will earn as much in 2024 as the highest-paid player on the Oakland A’s, Aledmys Diaz. And only two players on the Baltimore Orioles will out-earn him.)
Seven baffling years after their fairy tale World Series title, it sure felt like the Cubs were about to go on a spending spree, because it would make no sense to fork out all that cash on a manager and then hand him the same roster that won 83 games last year. And, actually, the roster that Counsell has right now isn’t even as good as the squad that went 83-79 last season, since it’s missing its best player, Cody Bellinger, who’s now a free agent.