Chicago Cubs to be aggressive in free agency – MLB News
The Chicago Cubs' general manager Jed Hoyer said on Thursday, November 1, that the club will be aggressive in free agency but will be cautious with regards to exercising the options.
He was referring to the contracts to be signed in the offseason. The 2013 payroll will be an important step to determine the strength of the Cubs. Given the choices they made the past year, especially when it came to Paul Maholm and David DeJesus, they are looking for the right players and the possibilities for the future, to make the decision.
"We're going to be aggressive in free agency, but we're not going to do things that are going to limit us going forward where we feel we're hindered by a certain contract," Hoyer said on Thursday. "We have some money to spend and we'll be active trying to improve our team for next year."
A quick look at the last year’s buying brings to fore names like Maholm and DeJesus. Maholm had signed a $4.25 million contract for a year and DeJesus had a two-year $4.25 million contract. As trade deadline loomed afterwards, Maholm was then traded to the Atlanta Braves.
That seemed a perfectly workable strategy with a fair share of success as well. The Cubs will like to offer such contracts this year as well and make the best possible decision as far as trading the players are concerned before the trade deadline.
"I think the contracts we signed last winter are a good model and I think we have the chance to maybe sign more of those this year with a little more money to spend," he said. "They're contracts that have served us well."
Other than that, the Cubs are awaiting the late November examination of Matt Garza who was out of the line-up due to a right elbow injury. The Cubs, as could be seen in the regular season, needed a strong rotation which was not available to them for a host of reasons with Matt Garza’s injury being a reason.
It will be interesting to see what moves the Cubs make during the offseason as they look to improve the depth of their line-up for Spring Training.
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