I'm not buying that. The Cubs have double the payroll of 3 of the teams in their division, with only the Cardinals being remotely close (and still about $35M away). Yes, there are other bad teams in MLB with high payrolls, some even higher than the Cubs, but that doesn't absolve Jed of his poor roster construction. We all understand that the Cubs could and should spend more money, BUT they are still spending in the Top 10 of MLB and that should be enough to put a consistently competitive team on the field. If you are given $220ish Million to spend, there is more than one way to get there. So far, Jed's way (spending everything on second-tier, average to good but not great, players) hasn't worked and doesn't show any signs that it is going to work in the near future.