"At the expense of the future" is an obvious strawman argument. No one is asking to completely mortgage the future for next year. That doesn't mean you don't try to win next year, and, to this point, the Cubs are a worse team than their crappy 2011 team. Regardless, signing marquee free agents always -- always -- comes with such risk. To sign the best, you generally have to live with overpayment at the tail end of the deal. That's life as a big boy club. Well said. One would hope that by the time they do get around to dropping off in production, the powers that be have managed to construct a team to account for that dropoff. Or even better, the powers that be have steered clear of that dropoff altogether, so that when they have a strong team constructed, it's not hindered by an overpaid, declining veteran. Just because the Cubs can overcome such a situation, doesn't mean they should choose to put themselves in it.