The loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic has "taken its toll" on the Cubs' scouting and player development departments, as the club "told several staffers their contracts would not be renewed after they expire Oct. 31," according to sources cited by Mark Gonzales of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. A source said that "at least six professional scouts were affected," with staff losses "easily exceeding two dozen." The White Sox last month "informed five members of their scouting department that their contacts would not be renewed," and the Brewers "made cuts in their scouting department last week" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/27). THE ATHLETIC's Sharma & Mooney wrote Cubs employees had been "bracing for the bad news that came with Wednesday’s internal communications." Contracts for Cubs staffers in baseball operations are "typically structured to run through Oct. 31." The two-month notice was given so that those impacted employees -- who "will still be paid through that date" -- can "plan ahead for an uncertain future" (THEATHLETIC.com, 8/26).
