Chicago Cubs, big spenders in 2025? Well, hey, it is possible depending on how this season rolls out. If the Cubs are in contention this year, if their pitching holds up and shows further promise and ownership has a sense that a World Series is in reach—especially if they avoid the upper luxury tax this season—there’s a case to be made for the Cubs to be very aggressive in 2025.
One name will dominate the market then: Yankees slugger Juan Soto. At Bleacher Report, they’re seeing the Cubs as a “landing spot” for Soto.
Certainly, Soto will hit the market next winter. When he was traded to the Yankees from the Padres in December, there was a suspicion that the Yankees would use their massive resources to lock him up to a long-term deal. But general manager Brian Cashman said that’s not the case, saying last month, “the odds are this is a one-year situation.”
“I don’t see too many things stopping him from reaching free agency,” Cashman told reporters.
And though Soto is expected to generate an annual salary of $34 million, and Spotrac projects him to warrant a (take a deep breath) 12-year, $408 million contract next winter, Cubs president Jed Hoyer should at least consider entering the market for him, and try to convince ownership to spend.
Cubs a ‘Free-Agent Landing Spot’ for Juan Soto
On a list of teams that could and should pursue Soto next winter at Bleacher Report, the Cubs came in No. 5. Analyst Zachary Rymer wrote in an article titled, “Early Free-Agent Landing Spots for Yankees’ Juan Soto,” that the Cubs do have some willingness to spend:
“It’s not for lack of trying that the Cubs aren’t already on the hook to pay a franchise slugger hundreds of millions of dollars. They were in the running to sign Ohtani, after all, and nobody can say he wouldn’t have fit perfectly in their offense. They got only 44 home runs from left-handed hitters in 2023, or exactly as many as Ohtani hit all on his own.
“Soto is not Ohtani, of course, but he is a fellow left-handed slugger who would be a dandy of a fix for the aforementioned problem. Plus, he might make more sense for the Cubs from a financial perspective.”
The Soto possibility becomes a bit more realistic if Cody Bellinger has a good year and opts out again next offseason. Of course, the Cubs would be tempted to simply re-sign Bellinger, but if there is a chance to sign a young star like Soto, they’d need to get in on the market.
Long-Term Deals Getting Rarer
Still, it’s a massive contract in an era when teams, even money-minters like the Cubs, are reeling back on long-term megadeal. There are exceptions, like the 10-year deal Ohtani got this winter, or the 10-year contract for Yoshinobu Yamamoto as well. But seven years for Aaron Nola and six years for Jung-Hoo Lee are the only other contract longer than five years given out this offseason.
Soto will be different. He’s a three-time All-Star who is only 25. He has won a batting title and averaged 26.7 homers since coming into the big leagues at age 19. It will take not only a big up-front outlay but a very long term on the contract to get a deal done.
Soto is represented by Scott Boras, who has been a lightning rod this offseason as several of his clients have held out for big contracts that still have not come. Boras hinted to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman about Soto’s contract demand: “Did you see what Yamamoto got?”
Yamamoto got $325 million over 10 years. That might cause the Cubs to fold on Soto.
But the possibility for the Cubs to open the wallet and sign him if they play well and Bellinger goes back to free agency.
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