The Cubs have not toned back the media stories about the Cubs going "all in" to win the Tanaka sweepstakes.
Yes, the Cubs are one of 8 teams who will try to sign the coveted Japanese pitcher.
And several of those teams have large, profitable new television contracts which inflates their payrolls dramatically (i.e. the Mariners, Dodgers, Angels and Yankees).
But the notion that the Cubs "won't be outbid" for Tanaka seems ridiculous. It is not a question of what the amount of money the Cubs will bid, but it is also where Tanaka wants to pitch (most likely to a contender).
Cynical fans also think that there is more "talk" than action in recent years from the front office. They say they made bids for start free agents like A. Sanchez, but in truth, those bids were much lower than the team that signed him. A low ball bid with almost zero chance of acceptance is really not a qualified, good faith effort. Many fans believe that the Cubs are not going to win in 2014 or 2015. So why would a team with no chance of winning try to sign an "ace" pitcher and basically "waste" 2 or 3 years of salary in a losing effort? That does not seem feasible if the Cubs continue to pull in the purse strings in order to pay the team's massive debt service and fund Ricketts massive real estate development project.
Some believe that Epstein may be allowed to make a 5 year/$55 million Edwin Jackson style bid (which in reality would be a $75 million investment with the posting fee), but that will not come close to the projected $100 million asking price. The "we tried" to sign him excuse may help in PR, but does not help shore up fading trust with the fan base.
With the mountain of pitchers the Cubs have drafted in the last two years, and none making waves in national scouting service reports, the discussion about the need to sign free agents or trade for quality major league ready arms calls into question the whole rebuilding plan.
Bottom line: the Cubs have less than a 5 percent chance to sign Tanaka. And if they do sign him, they will be overpaying for a major league ready prospect to gain some publicity for a few years for a bad baseball team.
