Chicago’s Answer To The Curse: Steal First, Then Use The Purse

Forgive me if I refrain from reveling in the lifting of the curse of the Cubs, as they reached the World Series for the first time since 1948. Had the event occurred three or four or five years ago I could share in the celebration, but this team is not the lovable losers America had grown fond of.

When you trace how the Cubs acquired this team and their manager, you realize they seem more like the hated Yankees of past decades than the traditionally lovable losers. It all started back in 2014, when controversy surrounded their hiring of one manager and the firing of another.

Joe Maddon had enjoyed years of success as the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, who had granted him a long term contract. In 2014 he bought a house in Tampa, a clear indication that he had no intentions to leave the Rays.

Maddon told reporters that he was happy in Tampa, according to baseball writer Ken Rosenthal in a column for foxsports.com from October 31,2014. That statement reinforced the idea that Maddon had no plans to move.

Then he suddenly opted out of his contract with Tampa, even though there were no managerial openings except in Minnesota after that club fired Ron Gardenhire. Speculation had already arisen about a move to Chicago, who already had Rich Renteria as its manager.

The next sequence reeks of foul play on the part of the Cubs, who suddenly were becoming somewhat less lovable losers. In a matter of days Chicago fired Renteria and announced Maddon as its new skipper, prompting accusations that the Cubs had been guilty of tampering.

They allegedly had approached Maddon about a position, even though Maddon was still under contract with the Rays. These allegations did hold substantial weight, given the recent history of Chicago’s front office.

The new General Manager of the Cubs, Theo Epstein, had coveted Madden almost ten years before when he was looking for a new skipper as the head honcho with the Boston Red Sox. The club went instead with Terry Francona, who in an ironic twist is the current skipper of Madden’s World Series opponents in Cleveland.

After what could be considered stealing another team’s manager, the Cubs then began to buy its way out of the supposed curse. Their payroll went from 23rd in all of baseball in 2014 to the fifth highest in 2016, the biggest leap of any team during that span.

Just two years ago Chicago paid a total of $97 million in player salaries, which has since risen to $186 million. The increase is primarily because the Cubs have signed the top free agents over the past two winters, including pitchers Jon Lester and John Lackey as well as outfielders Jason Heyward, Dexter Fowler and Ben Zobrist.

Not since the much-maligned New York Yankees of the nineties and first decade of this century has one team so monopolized free agency. One way to cure the curse is to open the purse, which the Cubs have certainly done.

While the Cubs were doubling their payroll, their World Series opponents were absent from the bidding for the huge free agents. Cleveland’s payroll in 2014 was 26th at $84 million, not much lower than Chicago’s $97 million. It currently sits at $114 million, making a slight bump up to 21st in baseball but still a far cry from the Cubs.

The story of the broken curse somehow seems less exciting, given the way this team and manager came together. The real feel good story should be the one about a club with one of the smallest ten payrolls battling for, not paying for, a World Series title.

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