The Dodgers are already familiar with the allegations of ruining baseball. But what if that gets directed to another franchise? Well, as per MLB insider Bob Nightengale, the Cubs might be the next after the Dodgers, facing the same allegations. With the Cubs’ recent spree of extending their key names, Nightengale shared the total amount the Cubs spent this winter. Surprisingly, the amount even overtakes the Dodgers’ 2026 payroll.

However, the fans didn’t seem too amused by what Nightengale was pointing towards and were quick to call him out.

“Anyone accusing the Chicago Cubs of ruining baseball? They have easily spent more money than any team in MLB this winter: $488 million after Nico Hoerner’s 6-year, $141 million contract is finalized,” Nightengale shared via X.

In the last few days, the Cubs splashed a huge sum in extending Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner. A cool $141 million is splashed to secure Hoerner for the next six years. And with that, it makes Hoerner the fourth-highest-paid second baseman in MLB history. On the other hand, Crow-Armstrong also got extended for six years, worth $115 million.

Result? Adding the other trading splashes like $175 million for Alex Bregman, the Cubs stand with around $488 million in payroll this winter. And hence, Nightengale questions why the Cubs are not alleged for ruining baseball despite overtaking the Dodgers’ $395 million.

However, fans don’t seem to accept Nightengale’s pro-Dodgers stance. As per them, the majority of the Dodgers’ humongous payroll is deferred, which is not the case for other franchises, or especially the Cubs. Till 2025, the Dodgers have deferred over $1 billion in player salary obligations. That’s roughly two-thirds of all MLB deferred money concentrated in their contracts.

For Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers defer 97% of his total $700 million salary. That’s about $680 million to be paid after 2033. For the Cubs, fans wonder if they are deferring such a huge amount. Moreover, extension of Crow-Armstrong and Hoerner serves the effectiveness of their own supply line as they are both home-grown talents.

After coming off a career-best year in 2025, it would have been very costly for the Cubs to let go of Hoerner. His .297 average even tops the names like Bregman (.273) and Kyle Tucker (.266). The same applies to Crow-Armstrong. He is coming off with a 30-30 season in 2025. So, in both cases, the Cubs retained their homegrown stars.

Fans wonder if the Dodgers are splashing money with the same motive.

Bob Nightengale gets called out for his pro-Dodgers stance

As per the fans, the free agency approach of the Dodgers and the Cubs is different.

“We signed one big free agent, and the guys we extended are homegrown, you retard,” one fan said. “1 HUGE free agent and then homegrown kids. Let’s not compare the two buds,” another added.

Last offseason, the biggest and perhaps the only significant free agent signing was Alex Bregman. The other two, Crow-Armstrong and Hoerner, are from the Cubs’ prospect list. On the other hand, free agent signings for the Dodgers include Kyle Tucker ($240 million), Edwin Diaz ($69 million), Andy Iabnez ($1.2 million), and Jake Cousins ($950k).

Max Muncy can be considered the Dodgers’ homegrown talent since 2018, although he came from the Athletics. He received a $10 million one-year extension in 2026.

So, the fans wonder how the Dodgers’ free agency can be compared with that of the Cubs. “Extending your homegrown talent is a lot different than what the Dodgers have done,” another fan pointed out.

“How much $$$$ are the Cubs deferring?” Another user questions. “$488 million is not even close to $1.2 BILLION, but sure,” another added.

The Dodgers’ deferred money currently stands at $1.2 billion, which is still huge compared to the total $488 million of the Cubs reported by Nightengale. However, it should be noted that Hoerner’s extension has a certain amount of deferrals. “Nico Hoerner’s Cubs deal is $141M for 6 years officially,” said the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. “There are deferrals.”

Reportedly, deferrals will take the current-day value of Hoerner into the mid-$130 million. Still, a much lesser number compared to the Dodgers.

Therefore, this time, Bob Nightengale may not be able to keep the fans on his side with his pro-Dodgers stance.