You'll never know if that is the case though, and any reports suggesting it to be the case will be suspect. That is why the only thing that matters is if they actually do sign the guy. We can hear about interest and offers, and the willingness to spend, but as long as the actual spending does not go up, I don't see any way to take solace in the notion that they would theoretically spend more in a different world. The money is there. That much is obvious. The willingness to allow it to be spent is the question. And if there was a report that said that the Cubs bid was $50 million less than the winning bid and that management was held back on orders from ownership, we should just dismiss that one, too? The onus is on them to actually spend, not just have reporters indicate they were willing to spend.