So they don't sign anyone good this offseason? Weird. The problems with that are: 1) They could still sign someone. Screw the first-round pick. 2) Several of the players they might want to sign won't be pick-tied. 3) They probably weren't going to sign anyone anyway. 4) Worth it to not have to hear "we lost 90+ games, there's no point in trying next year, we're too far away!" Having a protected pick and our pick of free agents is more valuable than you getting annoyed at #4. I would think Kyle would choose the situation where the Cubs didn't have a ready made excuse for not spending in FA to improve the team for next year.