Report: Cubs Will Non-Tender Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora Jr.

This is absolutely a case in which you need to consider the source, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale is reporting that the Cubs will non-tender both Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora Jr. One of those is not surprising in the least, the other falls somewhere between mildly shocking and seismic depending on your assessment of the situation.

The #Cubs are definitely tendering a contract to Kris Bryant, but barring a change of plans, will cut ties with outfielders Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora, as @MDGonzales predicted.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 2, 2020

Schwarber is only set to earn around $8 million in arbitration and would be an incredible bargain if he approaches his potential. Even if the Cubs don’t expect to keep him around, they’d be able to get some kind of value in a trade. They apparently felt they’d extract even greater value by spending that surplus salary on free agents.

Or by not spending it at all. More on this as the moves become official.