the point is that "let someone else pay it" is a refrain for the poor teams. i don't want the cubs doing that crap with their good players outside of the most extreme circumstances (i.e. something like your player refuses to talk extension and insists on hitting the market, then receives an outlandish offer, and the cubs have an equal or better replacement readily available). if the cubs are popular for years and monetize their tv rights (not to mention all this other revenue generating crap they're building) the way they seem very sure they will, they shouldn't have a problem. they need to be and should be what the dodgers are now. they cant spend it in IFA, they can't spend it on the draft...it's either give it to their (and other teams') players or make ricketts some money. maybe it's time to update your financial software. It's completely likely that the idea of paying a massive contract to a 30-whatever Rizzo is not a good idea, regardless if you're tossing money around like a [expletive] sultan. what do you suggest they do with the money then? if the cubs have it to spend, you should want them to spend it to be as good as they possibly can, regardless of how much value they're getting out of it. if they can sustain a $280M payroll, you should want them to. I don't know what they should do with the money they'll theoretically have six years from now because I'm not a genie and I can't see what will happen in the next six offseasons.