LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 09: Pete Crow-Armstrong #52 of the Chicago Cubs makes a catch ... [+]
Almost every organization has its wunderkinds. The Cubs figure to feature a pair of them in 2025, with infielder Matt Shaw joining center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong providing both long-term hope and an immediate upgrade to the depth of the roster.
While Crow-Armstrong expended his official rookie status playing 123 games last season, both he and Shaw will have entry-level salaries in their age-23 seasons when the Cubs travel to Tokyo to face the Dodgers in MLB’s season opener. The ability to count on them has played a major role in allowing baseball president Jed Hoyer and GM Carter Hawkins to put together a deeper roster while cutting the payroll by 25 percent.
That’s a neat trick when you can do it, and it appears Hoyer and Hawkins may have threaded that needle.
Using figures from Cots Contracts, the website BrooksGate put together a recent post showing that the Cubs are one of six teams that currently are set to open ’25 with payrolls at least $60 million lower than their Opening Day figures in ’24. The Cubs are at $179.8 million, down from $239.9 million.
For once, though, Cub fans shouldn’t roll their eyes at a cut in spending.
This one comes at the same time that they are adding one of the best left-handed hitters in baseball to the lineup. The question is whether Kyle Tucker is a one-year rental or a foundational piece after the trade that sent 2024 first-round pick Cam Smith, third baseman Isaac Paredes and right-handed Hayden Wesneski to the Astros.
They certainly have the financial flexibility to a contract extension that would shatter the club record deal they gave Dansby Swanson two years ago ($177 million, seven years). But before looking ahead, it’s worth pausing to consider how they’ve created such flexibility while adding to the chance they can win 90-plus games.
With the biggest moves being the trade of Cody Bellinger to the Yankees and the loss of Kyle Hendricks to free agency, they have shed the salaries of 12 veterans who earned a combined $80.745 million in 2024. That group delivered only a 2.3 fWAR in return, including 2.2 from Bellinger.
Tucker alone is projected to be worth about 5.0 WAR according to the projections used by Fangraphs. He has filed for arbitration in his final season before free agency, with his figure at $17.5 million and the Cubs’ at $15 million.
In addition to Bellinger and Hendricks, the Cubs have dropped Hector Neris, Drew Smyly, Patrick Wisdom, Adbert Alzolay, Yan Gomes, Michael Tauchman, Nick Madrigal, Garrett Cooper, Mark Leiter Jr. and Yency Almonte. They’ve added left-hander Matthew Boyd, right-hander Colin Rea, catcher Carson Kelly, relievers Caleb Thielbar and Eli Morgan and utility infielders Vidal Brujan and Gage Workman.
The Cubs aren’t done working on the roster. They remain in the sweepstakes for Japanese ace Roki Sasaki — another wunderkind — and need to add an experienced reliever to anchor the bullpen that includes ’24 revelations Porter Hodge and Tyson Miller.
The guess is they’ll probably enter the season having cut the payroll by $40-45 million, not $60. But with Shaw at third base and Crow-Armstrong in center, they should be able to let a mostly set lineup breathe for a couple of seasons before sorting through the expiring contracts of Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki and Nico Hoerner.
It’s vital they make the most of having Tucker this season, even if they do have outfield prospects Owen Caissie, Alexander Canario, Kevin Alcantara and James Triantos stacked up behind him. A return to the postseason — and some October success — would be huge after a spending cycle that failed to produce more than 83 wins.
