JUST IN: Sources tell ESPN that the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs are nearing completion of a trade that will transfer star outfielder to Houston.

After $89 Million Bet, Chicago Cubs Have To Double Down At Deadline

The Chicago Cubs emerged as a top-10 spender this offseason, dishing out $89 million on veterans like Cody Bellinger and Hector Neris, plus two-time NPB All-Star Shota Imanaga. With that spending, President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer signaled a clear focus on earning a playoff berth a year after the team had fallen one game short of a Wild Card spot.

The Cubs now have a $224.9 million payroll, up from $188.9 million last season and good for the eighth-highest in the majors. Though they sit below .500 at the time of this writing, that financial commitment and the losing records of most other clubs mean the front office has little choice but to double down on a win-now strategy at the July 30 trade deadline.

Despite Record, The Cubs’ Playoff Hopes Remain Alive

Publicly, Hoyer has emphasized that playoff hopes spring eternal, even as the team sits in fourth place in the National League Central division.

“We are two games under .500. Certainly not where we thought we were going to be at the end of April and not where we thought we were going to be going into the season,” he told local radio station 670 The Score this week. “But at the same time, you look around baseball and there’s a whole mass of teams right around that group. Almost all those teams went into the season with higher expectations as well.”

The Cubs are just half a game back from second place in the division and a Wild Card spot. Though Hoyer has little choice but to focus on the positives during local media interviews, it stands to reason that the team might be just a few deadline moves away from contention.

Of course, what Hoyer says now and what might actually take place at the end of July are two different things. But the team is so well positioned for the future with an excess of highly-ranked prospects that leveraging some of that future for the present is almost a necessity.

The Cubs have one of the league’s leading farm systems, recently ranked second overall by USA Today. With seven players in MLB’s top-100 rankings, the Cubs have the most top-tier prospects of any team. At a certain point, that kind of breadth can lose some value if there is not enough room to showcase its members on the 40-man big-league roster.