The Dodgers did it again.
The reigning World Series champions reportedly came to an agreement Sunday with closer Tanner Scott on a four-year, $72 million contract. Their victory in the Scott sweepstakes came just days after 23-year-old Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki announced he had chosen the Dodgers.
An already-fearsome roster just keeps building strength. And another back-end reliever is off the board as the Cubs try to round out their bullpen.
‘‘People focus on the size of [the Dodgers’] payroll and the [contract payment] deferments, stuff like that,’’ Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Saturday at the Cubs Convention. ‘‘But it’s just a great organization that’s kind of running on all cylinders.
‘‘They do well in the draft, they do well internationally, they make smart trades, they do a good job finding value on the margins. And then they can go sign major free agents, [and] they’re doing a great job in Japan. So just focusing on the amount of money they spend does a disservice to an organization that’s running at a really high level.’’
It’s undeniable, however, that the amount of money a team is willing to spend is often the deciding factor in free-agent negotiations. And it has a cumulative effect. When spending brings in stars and success, those also become recruiting tools.
The Cubs can sell their vibrant major city, rich history, facilities and technology, but they aren’t competing financially with teams such as the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and Phillies.
‘‘We don’t have the kind of resources that the Dodgers have, and we don’t have the kind of resources that the Mets have currently,’’ chairman Tom Ricketts said in a conversation with the Sun-Times this weekend. ‘‘And there’s a couple of other teams that are funding their baseball budgets from outside of baseball revenue. But we’re still one of the top teams, and we should be putting one of the top payrolls on the field every year.’’
The Cubs’ financial books aren’t available, but Ricketts consistently has said that baseball revenue — from ticket sales, concessions, TV and sponsorships — determines the budget for the next season. Last season, the Cubs finished seventh in the majors in payroll at about
$229.6 million, according to Spotrac.
Ricketts said he expects payroll going into this season to be around the $241 million competitive-balance tax threshold — ‘‘with a little bit of reserve for midseason.’’
Ricketts, however, said he is not considering changing the formula by injecting the budget with outside money, including revenue generated by ventures immediately surrounding Wrigley Field, even under special circumstances.
‘‘It doesn’t add up to much,’’ Ricketts said. ‘‘The neighborhood cannot fund Kyle Tucker, let’s put it that way. Not even close.’’
Tucker, a three-time All-Star whom the Cubs acquired from the Astros this offseason, can hit free agency after this season. If Hoyer wanted to extend or re-sign Tucker, Ricketts said he’d ‘‘support’’ it.
Hoyer, however, still would have to find the money in the existing budget.
‘‘Jed and his guys know every dollar at the Cubs, and they know what they have to work with,’’ Ricketts said. ‘‘Whether they put that into a free agent or put that into more research and development or put that into an extension of a current player, it’s all up to them.’’
The reality is, those constraints mean the Cubs are going to keep getting outbid for top free agents.
‘‘We’re one of the top six revenue teams, depending on what year, and so we should have a top-six kind of payroll every year,’’ Ricketts said. ‘‘We’re not going to be able to catch the Dodgers or the Yankees or maybe not the Mets because of their situation, but we’ll have the resources to put a great team on the field.’’
To do so, the baseball-operations department will have to continue ‘‘finding value on the margins,’’ to borrow a phrase from Hoyer. That makes the blow of Sasaki going to the Dodgers, who always were considered the favorites, sting a little more.
‘‘It’s undeniable in that situation that the rich get richer,’’ Hoyer said. ‘‘But my point is, you miss the picture if you over-focus on the financial part.’’
Coming over from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball through the amateur international free-agent process, Sasaki only was allowed to sign a minor-league deal with a bonus that was limited by teams’ allotted bonus-pool space. Sasaki’s bonus is about $6.5 million, according to multiple reports.
Among the Dodgers’ many selling points was that they also had international superstar Shohei Ohtani, whom they signed to a 10-year, $700 million contract a year ago, to help with their pitch.
The Cubs got an in-person interview with Sasaki, but they weren’t one of the three finalists.
‘‘I couldn’t be more proud of the way we presented,’’ Hoyer said.
The ‘‘thousand of man-hours’’ the Cubs spent on presentations, however, weren’t enough to win Sasaki’s favor.
The Dodgers won. Again.