Missed It By That Much
Those Jake Peavy talks will probably heat up again once the Ricketts take over the team or Rich Harden hits the disabled list, but just how close were they to completing the trade over the winter?
They were so close, in fact, that Peavy's side had begun the process of negotiating how much of his salary would be deferred. I's were being dotted, t's were being crossed.
Buster Olney makes it sounds like they were in the middle of the press conference before the red phone rang from Sam Zell to put a stop to the deal. I guess we may never know, but Padres general manager Kevin Towers certainly thought a deal was just about in place, so there's probably more truth than fiction to that story.
The other newsworthy item is that USA Today pegs the Cubs total payroll at $134,809,000. That's the third highest in baseball behind the Mets and Yankees and well ahead of the fourth place Boston Red Sox ($121,745,999).
NL Central Payroll
Cubs | $ 134,809,000 |
Astros |
$ 102,996,414 |
Brewers |
$ 80,182,502 |
Cardinals |
$ 77,605,109 |
Reds |
$ 73,558,500 |
Pirates |
$ 48,693,000 |
By USA Today's numbers, the Cubs increased their spending by $16.5 million from last season and are outspending their closest division rival by nearly $32M.
Division |
Teams |
Difference Rounded |
NL East |
Mets over Phillies |
$36M |
NL Central |
Cubs over Astros |
$32M |
NL West |
Dodgers over Giants |
$18M |
AL East |
Yankees over Red Sox |
$80M |
AL Central |
Tigers over White Sox |
$19M |
AL West |
Angels over Mariners |
$15M |
Well, it's not quite the Evil Empire, but I think it's safe to retire the Cubs don't spend enough clichés. And while you still have to make the right decisions with that money, the Cubs and Jim Hendry are working at a decided advantage...a $32 million advantage.
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