Theo Epstein had a reputation of throwing money at problems to solve issues with the Red Sox. Apparently, he cannot get over that spending mentality to cover up flaws in his system.
The Cubs have gone overboard on international free agent signings this summer.
Steve Adams of MLBTR reports that with the latest foreign player signing, the Cubs are $1.059 million over the spending limit. As such, the Cubs will be penalized $1.059 million MLB tax and be restricted to a limit of only $250,000 per foreign player next year.
There are several theories on why the Cubs went on a rabid shopping spree. One, the front office is in panic mode. Two, Ricketts will be cutting back the baseball budget significantly next year in order to start building his huge new redevelopment project around Wrigley Field. Three, the front office went all-in with these prospects because they were the best of their generation. We can probably eliminate the last one.
When the Cubs have signed 18-year-old Taiwanese right-hander Jen-Ho Tseng for a $1.625 million bonus, and will ink prospect Eloy Jimenez, for approximately $2.8 million, the Cubs final price tag was more than $7.89 million on foreign teenagers. The Cubs had already signed Gleyber Torres for $1.7 million, Jefferson Mejia for $850,000, Erling Moreno for $650,000 and Johan Matos for
$270,000.
In addition, the Cubs spent $11.068 million for signing bonuses for their June draft picks.
The Cubs spent a total of approximately $18.96 million on prospects. That is 3.8 percent of Ricketts redevelopment budget of $500 million.
And when will the Cubs recoup any of these investment dollars in foreign players?
Many will not start their pro careers for a year or two. Once in the states, they will start in rookie ball, then progress through two levels of Class A ball. So by year four, a few may make it to Class AA. Add two more years of seasoning, a foreign prospect is at least six years away from making the Cubs. And with foreign prospects, the odds are maybe 2 of 10 selections will make it to the big leagues.
The Cubs overspending for talent this year is a precursor to the team shutting down spending on talent for the next few years. These are the key Epstein-Hoyer picks. This is the talent they said would turn around the organization. But they are continuing to push the impact of their selections farther and farther into the future.
An example of pulled in purse strings is selling player contracts for cash. The Giants just acquired pitcher Guillermo Moscoso from the Cubs in exchange for cash or a player to be named states the SF Chronicle. Moscoso was pitching for Triple-A Iowa with the Cubs, but he will
report to the Giants' big-league team and will be activated Saturday. Moscoso had a 3.93 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 with Iowa. He has
pitched parts of four big-league seasons, appearing with the Rangers,
Athletics and Rockies. Schulman indicates that the Giants have acquired
Moscoso to add another starting pitching option. Moscoso started 21
games for the A's in 2011.
