Money To Burn? Why Burn It?

Buster Olney at ESPN Asks Why The Cubs Aren't Spending money and if we shouldn't reconsider their future because of their spending.  In particular, he notes:

However, we still haven’t seen evidence that the Ricketts family will spend big dollars when the Cubs’ group of prospects is ready to ripen. Look at the team’s payroll trend:

2010 $144.3 million
2011 $134 million
2012 $109 million
2013 $107 million
2014 About $90 million, according to Baseball Prospectus.

(Which does not include the $13 million of Alfonso Soriano’s deal that the Cubs will assume). Generally speaking, the payroll has gone down by about 30 percent over the last four seasons.

The Ricketts, like a lot of incoming owners, took on debt to buy the Cubs, and the scrap with the rooftop owners outside of Wrigley Field has probably turned out to be much more complicated than anticipated. They have ambitions for a Fenway-like remodeling.

The bottom line: So far, the Ricketts’ spending on their major-league product has been much more like that of the Brewers or Reds than a big-market superpower that we usually assume they should be. Maybe that will change as the prospects ascend and develop, and maybe the Cubs will settle their ballpark and rooftop issues and spend more freely. 

 Here is the main problem with the question Olney raises.  Why in the world *should* the Cubs be spending massive amounts of money now?  Seriously - to what end?

If you are building for 2016 when your young guys are going to be coming to the majors... what should you buy now?  Do you buy position players that might end up blocking these young guys?  Do you sign more Edwin Jackson inning eater starter deals - and if so, why?  What's the benefit of a mediocre veteran to a team that is just biding time?  What is there for you to get that is... worth it?

Here's what you do:

1.  See who pans out and then use free agency to fill in the blanks.
2.  You try to get long term, high quality, pitching options - like the run the Cubs made at Tanaka.  (Hey, wasn't the fact that the Cubs were just barely outbid by the Yankees evidence that they are willing to spend?)
3.  You pay down debts while you can.
4.  You improve infrastructure.

See, this takes the funds that you have now, and instead of throwing $14 million at someone who isn't going to help your team in the long run, you can do things that WILL help the club in the long run.

The Ricketts aren't profiteering off of the Cubs.  They are simply doing long term, solid business thinking, something that most people today simply don't know how to do.