The Chicago Cubs’ interest in Tarik Skubal sounds real enough. Their willingness to pay what it takes? That’s a different story.
Jeff Passan of ESPN made that clear while laying out the market for the top free agent on the board. The Cubs may want the left-handed starter badly, but the price is the price, and Skubal is positioned to land a deal that could reset the market for pitchers.
Passan said Skubal is “far and away the best player in this class,” and that he is expected to sign before the Dec. 1 lockout. He also pointed to the two most obvious bidders: the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, the teams with the highest payrolls in baseball.
The Cubs, Passan added, “badly want Skubal.” But he also said they are skeptical they will be willing to go to the level Skubal is expected to command - “well in excess of $300 million, potentially in the $400 million-plus range.”
That’s the part that matters most. Wanting a player is easy to say in November. Matching the kind of contract that wins the bidding war is where the truth comes out.
So while Skubal is exactly the kind of arm the Cubs should be chasing, the message coming through is hard to ignore: they may admire him, but they do not sound ready to meet the number it will take.
That doesn’t automatically make an offseason without Skubal a failure. But it does leave the Cubs in a familiar spot, talking big while hinting they may not be prepared to spend like the teams they’d have to beat.
And for a fan base that has heard enough excuses, that’s the frustrating part. The Cubs have not won the World Series in 10 years, and they have not been one of the final four teams left in the playoffs since 2017. At some point, the talk has to turn into action.
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