But they won’t ever come right out and telegraph their financial plan:. But we don’t want to tip off the rest of the league to what we’re trying to. We have to be mindful of both as we attack the offseason. So with all the options out of the way, here’s where the Cubs’ payroll stands as the offseason picks up in earnest. Teams can pay players more than that and often di based on performance and good will, but they don’t have to do that, so let’s stick with the base salary for every player to keep things simple. That figure doesn’t include other players that will be on the man roster in the minor leagues or any other raises for the pre-arb players in the big leagues. Epstein and Co.