FINISHED DEAL: The Chicago Cubs have reportedly finalized their deal to sign Juan Soto, a franchise superstar, according to many reports this morning.

Cubs need a superstar. Here’s why it won’t be free-agent slugger Juan Soto.

CHICAGO – For a franchise needing a superstar, a missing piece to help get it to the next level, this offseason presents an ideal situation for the Chicago Cubs. The lineup is missing a dominant slugger who is a constant threat to get on base and change the game with one swing. Juan Soto checks every box for the type of hitter the Cubs lack, and the left-handed-hitting outfielder turned 26 last month. Of course, that combination would prove costly to acquire. Coming off a 7.9 WAR season with the New York Yankees in which he walked more than he struck out and totaled 31 doubles and 41 home runs with a 178 OPS+, Soto could receive a deal worth more than $500 million. Despite their big-market status and obvious need, the Cubs won’t be pursuing Soto, sources told the Chicago Tribune. Soto is

expected to meet with the Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets, ESPN reported last week. Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts told the Tribune last month that he trusts President Jed Hoyer and his baseball operations department to make the decision whether to pursue players in free agency who would require a megadeal. “My perspective is that you get all the resources you can over to your baseball guys and let them allocate them,” Ricketts said. “Obviously, there are some players out there with 13-year contracts. We don’t have any of them at the moment, but some teams do that and some teams’ general managers think that’s a good use of resources. Some teams try to allocate their resources in a way that you get more for that and a little less exposure to long-term contracts.

“But ultimately it’s really the baseball department’s decision what they want to do with their resources.” Jason Heyward’s eight-year, $184 million contract before the 2016 season is still the biggest free-agent deal in Cubs history and matches Alfonso Soriano’s 2006 contract for most years. But neither Heyward’s deal ($23 million annual average value) nor Dansby Swanson’s ($25.286 million AAV on his seven-year, $177 million contract) come close to the financial commitments some teams have made to superstars the previous five years. The Philadelphia Phillies signed Bryce Harper to a 13-year, $330 million contract ($23.385 million AAV) in 2019, the same offseason the San Diego Padres acquired Manny Machado for 11 years at $350 million ($31.818 million AAV). The Mets kept Francisco Lindor with a 10-year, $341 million extension ($34.1 million AAV) in 2021.