Nam Y. Huh/AP Photos
When the Cubs signed Alex Bregman to a five-year, $175 million contract last week, the move answered some of the looming questions about the team’s offseason budget.
It was clear that they were operating with more leeway than last year, when they opened the 2025 season with the 12th-highest payroll in baseball, a large-market team sitting in the middle of the pack in spending.
The Cubs finished last year safely under the first luxury tax threshold ($241 million), with a Competitive Balance Tax payroll of a little over $231 million, according to the Associated Press.