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Chicago Tribune
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Has the Wrigley Field video board enhanced the ballpark experience for Chicago Cubs fans?
Scoreboard watching at Wrigley Field in late May is not at all practical with two-thirds of the season remaining, despite growing optimism in the Chicago Cubs. But now more than ever, Cubs fans seem to be video board watching, giving their undivided attention to the left field video board erected 10 years ago during the Project 1060 renovation. The video-free era ended at a perfect time for the Cubs' rebuild, which began to turn the corner in May 2015 thanks to the arrivals of free agent starter Jon Lester, the promotion of rookie Kris Bryant, the emergence of Jake Arrieta and the 'Try Not to Suck' mantra of new manager Joe Maddon. Now the video board has become an integral part of Wrigley, like the bleachers, the ivy and its older, technologically averse relative, the 88-year-old center field scoreboard built by Bill Veeck. It's hard for some to remember what Wrigley Field was like before the major cultural change of 10 years ago. Looking up between innings is now a force of habit. The Wendella boat race ad, a virtual copy of the Donut Race at the United Center, drew a huge roar from the crowd of 40,171 on hand for the Memorial Day game against the Colorado Rockies. Many fans stopped and watched Pete Crow-Armstrong's 'diamond moment' ad in which the Cubs center fielder reminisced about his first game at Wrigley as a 13-year-old, when he looked in admiration at the old scoreboard. A sighting of actor Jason Bateman in the stands drew applause, and even the hokey Cubs' cap dance, where fans guess which rotating cap the ball is under, got a nice response. Has the video board enhanced the Wrigley Field experience? Were the traditionalists wrong all along? Remember, the Cubs rejected the idea of adding a video board for decades as a nod to the ballpark's storied history. As every season went by and new stadiums emerged, Wrigley's aura became more pronounced, even as the occupants never won. The first serious conversations about change came in 2008 after real estate mogul Sam Zell took over the team, which was part of Tribune Co., and looked into the possibility of adding video. 'We are not going to touch the existing scoreboard,' Cubs business operations president Crane Kenney declared at the time. 'Somewhere else in the ballpark? That's an idea people talk about, but it would have to fit … People are jumping off bridges over worries about Wrigley Field. I'd like to think we'd get a little bit of credit, and I know Sam is a new owner, but give him a little bit of credit. We haven't done anything not in keeping with the character of the park.' But Zell was a short-timer who didn't even like baseball. The Ricketts family agreed to buy the Cubs in 2009, and the idea resurfaced at the 2010 Cubs Convention, where fans were asked at a seminar if they wanted a video board. About half raised their hands. It was still controversial at the time, but an informal Tribune poll of Cubs players that spring in Mesa, Ariz., found that the vast majority were in favor of a video board. The most passionate objector was infielder Ryan Theriot, who feared it would ruin the ambience of the ballpark. 'If you're going to do that, you might as well change the whole park and modernize everything,' Theriot said. 'The way it is now is the way it's been for years, and the way it's meant to be, so you might as well leave it the way it is. I know things change and times change, but from a historical standpoint, that Wrigley vibe, that feel … a Jumbotron would change everything.' The Cubs would eventually do just that and modernize Wrigley, including adding the video board. They've had many critical successes like Gallagher Way, and added patio sections for mingling, bigger bathrooms and improved lighting. The many exclusive clubs built at Wrigley have been a financial success, though most casual fans can't get into one. The neighborhood has also changed immensely, with expensive dining options and dive bars co-existing within walking distance. But the video board is the one renovation everyone in the ballpark experiences. Whether it has 'changed everything,' as Theriot feared, is in the eyes and ears of the beholder. In essence, it's not all that different from other video boards around the sports world with its interactive ads and infomercials touting the team and its history, along with the replays, highlights and stats. Fans can now see the replays of video challenges instead of looking at their phones, as they did in the early 2010s. One of the more popular staples has been the 'Legends of the Game' video, with the orchestra music swelling over highlights of a former Cubs star, who sometimes is at the game and receives a standing ovation afterward. It'd be nice to see a few different legends other than the ones in the current rotation, but that's a minor quibble. The main reason the Cubs wanted a video board, of course, was to make money. They promised it would be tasteful with no airing of TV commercials. Former senior marketing director Alison Miller said in 2015: 'You're never going to see a 30-second auto commercial. That's us not doing our job if we just resort to showing commercials.' Instead, the video board features advertising vignettes between innings with players like Crow-Armstrong trying to locate Cincinnati on a map for an airline sponsor, or 'Guess which pitch Colin Rea is throwing?' for a paint manufacturer, or 'Pick the Song of the Game' for a Japanese candy company. The Cubs, fortunately, have not resorted to using emcees or DJs on the video boards and have not featured an animal like the Los Angeles Angels' 'Rally Monkey' screaming at fans. More importantly, they have eschewed two particularly annoying video board tropes aimed at getting fans' attention — kissing fans and 'make some noise' graphics. 'We believe there is a way to entertain fans and keep them engaged without going the way of Kiss Cam or noise meter,' a spokesperson said in 2014. The spokesperson said Chairman Tom Ricketts personally banned the so-called 'Kiss Cam' and graphics exhorting fans when to cheer or get louder. Ricketts has kept that vow. It's a little more high-brow video board presentation than what you might experience in some ballparks, much like the Fenway Park video board in Boston. Red Sox fans consider themselves above such diversions, and ditto Cubs fans. Fears that the Wrigley video board would overwhelm the senses and make the center field scoreboard seem obsolete have mostly been allayed over the last decade. It's not perfect, but it does its job without stealing attention from the game. The Cubs even repainted the old scoreboard over the winter and it looks as good as new. And many fans still pose with the old scoreboard in the background of their Instagram photos because it represents old Wrigley, even as they prefer having a real video board to watch. There's room for both the old and the new at Wrigley, as long as it's done right.
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The energy is back at Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs are riding the momentum
CHICAGO – It's happening again, that bounce around Wrigley Field when the Chicago Cubs are relevant. It's the drama building as fog rolls in and darkness falls over the neighborhood, culminating in a walk-off victory under the lights. It's the party atmosphere for day games on weekends, with an explosive offense and a wonky bullpen generating so much back-and-forth action. Advertisement Ballpark vibes and entertainment value will only take a team so far. Nearly 75 percent of the season is still unwritten. Wednesday night's 3-1 loss to the Miami Marlins will not make the highlight reel for the 2026 Cubs Convention. Still, this very much appears to be a connected group with staying power, in a place where any sense of momentum can suddenly multiply. 'It allows for moments to be just bigger,' Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. 'They feel bigger when the stadium's full. We all feel that.' Feel is an essential guide for Counsell, who's a far more nuanced personality than his poker face shows in the dugout. On some level, Counsell is an extension of the Jed Hoyer/Carter Hawkins front office, which talks about the marginal value of a win and the importance of outperforming projection systems. Counsell has an accounting degree from the University of Notre Dame, and his decision-making process always involves data. Yet, Counsell didn't approach the Tokyo Series as strictly a business trip, instead viewing the start of the season abroad as a chance to bring the team closer together. After a year of observing Wrigley Field's shifting weather elements, Counsell pushed the Cubs to play more small ball in certain situations. And following the club's first walk-off win in April, Counsell appreciated the significance beyond just one game. 'That is a really good experience for teams to have early in the season,' Counsell said. 'Those are important experiences. You're going up against bullpens, and you're going up against the best that the other team has to offer. Finding wins in that area is resilience-building. It's a step in that direction.' The 110th year of Cubs baseball at Wrigley Field has already featured a wacky 13-11 game never seen here before. The Cubs gave up 10 runs in an inning (the eighth!) and still beat the Arizona Diamondbacks. Five days after that instant classic, the Cubs completed a two-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning two one-run games against the defending World Series champs. Advertisement Just last week, Ryan Pressly became the only reliever in major-league history to allow eight-plus earned runs in a game, not get an out and take the loss, in what ended as the Cubs' largest extra-inning loss in franchise history. Two days later, after the election of Pope Leo XIV, the Wrigley Field marquee declared: 'HEY, CHICAGO, HE'S A CUBS FAN!' Soon enough, video surfaced of Robert Prevost on the South Side attending the 2005 World Series. The new pope's brother, John, also told WGN that the new head of the Catholic Church was 'always a Sox fan.' Only in Chicago. The Cubs-Sox rivalry will be on display this weekend at the Friendly Confines, where Cade Horton will make his first major-league start on Friday afternoon – Counsell used an opener for his major-league debut in New York – and Moisés Ballesteros will get another chance to show why he's regarded as one of the best hitting prospects in the entire sport. That is how it worked when the Cubs advanced to three straight National League Championship Series in 2015, 2016 and 2017, annually calling up elite young talent from Triple-A Iowa during the season for reinforcements. 'It's part of what Jed and Carter have built,' said Cubs outfielder Ian Happ, whose oblique injury opened a spot for Ballesteros. 'There are pieces that are ready to fill in and be a part of it. You see it with Cade. You saw it with Porter (Hodge) last year. Every team needs that. Every team needs players to come up and make an impact at the big-league level. 'We're happy to welcome them in and support them.' Even a veteran pitcher such as Matthew Boyd – who's 34 years old and in his 11th major-league season and new to Chicago – can immediately notice the difference. With the nondescript Marlins in town, the Cubs still drew a crowd of 38,083 on Tuesday night, and the fans were treated to a 5-4 walk-off victory. That marked the club's 11th comeback win in a season that is only just beginning. Advertisement 'I say this with no knock to the previous places I played,' Boyd said. 'But to have the energy in April and May for those games early in the week – and have it be no different than a Friday or a Saturday – I was telling Ben (Brown): 'This isn't the norm. This is the outlier.' 'Every time you get to go out there, it really is a blessing to put on this uniform, to be a Cub and get to play at Wrigley Field in front of this amazing fan base for this amazing organization.' (Photo of Dansby Swanson at bat against the Miami Marlins:)
Chicago Tribune
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Chicago Cubs superfan Ronnie ‘Woo Woo' Wickers is rehabbing for a return to Wrigley Field
Ronnie Wickers was looking around his room for his get-well cards. 'Where are they?' he asked his daughter, Yolanda Linneman. 'I know they're around here somewhere.' After a brief search of the room at The Pearl of Evanston nursing home, Linneman reached into a box and pulled out a couple dozen cards. Almost all of them were addressed to 'Ronnie Woo Woo,' the nickname Wickers earned in the Wrigley Field bleachers for chanting the word 'woo' after the names of Cubs players, becoming well-known in the 1980s: 'Jody, Woo! Davis, Woo! Leon, Woo! Durham, Woo!' To some he's the sweet sound of a Wrigley summer, and to others he's a car alarm that can't be turned off. 'The best way to appreciate Ronnie,' Hall of Fame owner Bill Veeck told me in 1983, 'is when he's about 100 feet away and not in your ear.' Now 83, Wickers is rehabbing from a lung disease at the Evanston facility. He has been there since shortly after making his annual appearance at the Cubs Convention in January, and he's hooked up to an oxygen tank and monitored closely by staff. Wickers said he hopes to get a portable oxygen concentrator when doctors allow him to go back to the ballpark. He was scheduled for an appointment Tuesday morning at Northwestern Memorial Hospital but said Monday he felt good and was aiming for a return to Wrigley sometime around the All-Star break. Naturally, Wickers believes the Cubs will remain in first place by then. 'They're playing such good ball, I'd like to get out there and see them play,' he said while looking at a magnet schedule and wearing one of his many Cubs uniforms. 'I'll get there.' A friend brought a small Roku TV to Wickers' room so he could stream the games on Marquee Sports Network, and Wickers was eager to see how they Cubs would fare Tuesday and Wednesday against the superstar-laden Los Angeles Dodgers. Friends have stopped by with gifts from the park: the magnet schedule, Cubs shirts and hats. 'We've had so many people visiting, it's hard to keep track of everyone,' Linneman said. I've known Wickers for decades, having met him in the bleachers in my teens. He's an acquired taste, for sure, because of his unique gift: the ability to yell, 'Cubs, Woo!' at the top of his lungs for an entire three-hour game. When I last saw him before Monday, he was in good spirits at the Cubs Convention and even conversed with Chairman Tom Ricketts, opening a door many thought was closed when Wickers was ejected from the bleachers in April 2017 after security asked him to produce a ticket. 'Throughout the years, Ronnie Wickers has attempted to enter Wrigley Field without a ticket and he is politely turned away by staff,' former Cubs spokesman Julian Green said that day. 'Wickers, like any other fan or celebrity, must have a ticket to attend a game at Wrigley Field. No exceptions. We take ticket integrity seriously, so if you attempt to enter a section in the first or seventh inning, you must produce a ticket when asked.' Wickers insisted a friend gave him an e-ticket and it was on the friend's phone. The friend couldn't produce it, so 'Woo Woo' got the boot. He claimed he was being singled out and harassed, joking he would take his case to the Supreme Court. But he eventually was allowed back in and soon was wooing like the old days. I've seen Wickers at his highest and lowest, from his loudest days in the bleachers to his recent struggles with health problems. When Durham homered in San Diego to give the Cubs the lead in the fourth inning of Game 4 of the 1984 National League Championship Series, the team was one win from its first World Series in 39 years. Wickers hopped up on the bar at the Cubby Bear and began yelling, 'Leon, Woo! Durham, Woo!' The entire bar chanted along. Five innings later, Padres first baseman Steve Garvey hit a walk-off home run off Cubs closer Lee Smith, and Wickers trudged out of the bar like he'd lost his dog. In 1987 he was missing from the ballpark early in the season, which led to a Sun-Times story headlined: 'Cubs 'Woo man' vanishes. Misses first game in 17 yrs. amid murder rumor.' Radio personality Jonathan Brandmeier located Wickers working as a pizza delivery man, and the Tribune sports editor ordered a half-dozen pizzas with the stipulation that Wickers personally deliver them to Tribune Tower. Wickers entered the fourth-floor newsroom holding the pizzas aloft and chanting: 'I'm alive, Woo! I'm alive, Woo!' Cubs players all knew him, or at least knew the voice. One day in '87, former Cubs great Billy Williams stood near the batting cage 2½ hours before a day game and heard Wickers chanting outside the ballpark. Williams noticed the shades of the rooftop buildings were drawn. 'Those people won't be sleeping much longer,' he said. The next year Wickers came to Wrigley on opening day wearing a gorilla suit. He has been friends with players for decades, from Fergie Jenkins in the 1960s to Bill Madlock in the '70s, from Davis and Gary 'Sarge' Matthews in the '80s to Ben Zobrist in the 2010s. Former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry, whom Wickers razzed relentlessly at Wrigley, called him last year on his birthday. Still, the outpouring of love since news of his latest health setback was posted on Facebook wasn't something Wickers expected. Andre Dawson called and told Wickers he would stop by the facility. Zobrist sent well wishes, and on Monday Wickers read a card from former pitcher Glendon Rusch telling him to get back to chanting 'Cubs, Woo!' soon. (For those interested in sending a message, Wickers can be reached at The Pearl of Evanston Skilled Nursing Facility, 820 Foster St., Evanston, IL 60601.) Over the years, players, including Durham, sometimes gave Wickers money to supplement his income from washing windows, shoveling snow and other odd jobs. It was payback, Durham said, for supporting them year after year. 'It was a blessing to know that he was not just there for the game but also to inspire the team, to cheer us on,' Durham told the Tribune in 2004. 'Some fans might have thought he was annoying, but you come out to the ballpark to cheer. If you don't want cheering, you stay home.' One fan who sent Wickers a card enclosed a copy of a photo of him posing with Wickers when the fan was a little boy. Wickers might be one of the most photographed people at Wrigley over the last 60 years. Players come and go, but Ronnie Woo Woo has been around forever. 'They can't trade me and they can't fire me,' he said, laughing.
New York Times
17-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
It's ‘Go Cubs Go' in 2025, but where will they be in October?
We know the Cubs are starting their season against the Dodgers in Japan. But where will they finish? The Cubs finish the 162-marathon with the Mets and Cardinals in late September at Wrigley Field. Will they be packing for the playoffs or another early vacation? 'Go Cubs Go' and all, but where? It's a question that could change lives on the North Side of Chicago, starting with president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, who is entering the last year of his contract. Hoyer has been with the Cubs since the winter of 2011, through thin and thick and thin and … whatever this is now. Advertisement As his Kyle Tucker trade showed, Hoyer is aware of this season's importance to the organization and himself personally. We all remember Theo Epstein's 'every opportunity to win is sacred' line from 2011. His friend Hoyer is living that truth now. The Cubs' modest goal is to end the season in the playoffs for the first time (in a full season) since 2018. They haven't won their division and a playoff series (or even a game) since 2017 when their run atop the National League ended with a thud against the Dodgers, who they will open the season against in Tokyo. A lot has changed since then. The Dodgers' goal this year, and every year, is another World Series title. The Cubs intend to be one game better than the Milwaukee Brewers. It's hard to believe the Cubs, who were supposed to be a financial and developmental powerhouse, have been so middling for so long. Detours happened on the path to prosperity, and while the team's arrow is pointed in the right direction, it's hard to get excited about the road to 85 wins. It is poetic that the Cubs are starting with the Dodgers in Japan, where both teams are aggressive suitors of talent to varied degrees. The Dodgers, bankrolled by a monster cable TV deal, are the new 'Evil Empire.' A perfect organization that blends spending and scouting. Their payroll for the season is second to the Mets and eclipsing $300 million. They signed the biggest star in the sport, Shohei Ohtani, star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and won the rights for young Japanese ace Roki Sasaki this offseason. The Cubs, who are also emphasizing signing Japanese players, have Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga. They had Yu Darvish, a godfather of Japanese ballplayers, but ultimately couldn't afford him. Chicago can't compete for high-end free agents, so they overspend on good talent like Dansby Swanson, Ian Happ and Suzuki. They make trades for rentals like Tucker, despite having no indications they can keep him for the long term. While the Dodgers have eff-you money, the Cubs are dealing with MLB's effed-up regional sports network realities — their dream of a TV windfall never happened — and team chairman Tom Ricketts has given up on competing financially with the likes of the Dodgers, Mets, Phillies and Yankees … at least under the current CBA. In a radio interview during Cubs Convention, Ricketts espoused a 'break-even' philosophy of spending that sounded dubious and very small-time for a big-market owner of a team with a money-printing stadium. It didn't go over well for an increasingly unpopular owner. Tom Ricketts on fans calling for Cubs to spend more: "They think somehow we have all these dollars that the Dodgers have or the Mets have or the Yankees have and we just keep it. Which isn't true at all. What happens is we try to break even every year, and that's about it." — 670 The Score (@670TheScore) January 18, 2025 Ricketts walked back that statement in a recent interview on CNBC. 'Maybe using the word 'break-even' wasn't the way I wanted to say that,' he said. 'I just want people to know that every dollar spent at the ballpark goes back into putting a more competitive team on the field. Away from that, every Cubs fan knows we've invested more than a billion dollars into Wrigley Field itself and the neighborhood around (it). It's not a matter of us not investing. We are putting the team out on the field we can every year.' Advertisement It was a familiar Ricketts bit, 'Caveat Theater.' The team is believed to have one of the highest revenues in the game. But no one knows how the books are balanced or cooked. Given that the family's real estate interests are technically separate from the baseball ones, even though the businesses are all intertwined, you would need a team of forensic accountants to figure out where the money is flowing. Furthermore, Cubs fans didn't ask for boutique hotels, team-owned rooftops, luxury clubs or a sportsbook. They pay a lot for tickets (not to mention to watch the games on TV) and don't want to hear excuses from rich people. Tellingly, in a win-now season, the Cubs have a lower Opening Day payroll than they did last season. And yet, this team is going to be good. Probably. Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA projection is high on the Cubs at 91.7 wins, the third-most in baseball. FanGraphs has them atop the NL Central but with 84 wins. BetMGM, the official gambling partner of The Athletic, has their win total at 86.5 and gives them the sixth-best odds (+1400) to win the National League pennant. They aren't built to be a surefire contender this season — they're currently 12th in total payroll allocations, according to Spotrac — which is why I didn't quite agree with Hoyer trading last year's first-round draft pick Cam Smith to Houston for one year of Tucker. Because the Cubs aren't one player away from a World Series. If Tucker plays well enough, he will be out of the Cubs' budget after the season. What will be the return on one year? Smith has opened eyes with Houston this spring and could open the season in the majors. If he becomes a star and Tucker becomes a Yankee or, god forbid, a Dodger, how will this trade look in a few years? Cam Smith goes oppo taco for his 3rd home run of the spring 🌮 Smith, the Astros #1 prospect, was acquired for Kyle Tucker during the offseason (via @MLB) — FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 16, 2025 But with his job on the line, Hoyer had to make a win-now move. So I get it, and for his sake, I hope it works because it will put his boss in quite a pickle. What happens if Tucker (who has the sixth-best odds for NL MVP at +1600) rakes and the Cubs make the playoffs? How could Ricketts justify not making a serious attempt to re-sign him, even at a contract eclipsing $250 million? Here's how. Ricketts is content rooting for an NL Central crown and waiting out the clock before a raucous labor fight after the 2026 season. Advertisement Baseball has a de facto salary cap now with the luxury tax, but owners like Ricketts will be angling for an official one during the upcoming bargaining sessions with the Major League Baseball Players Association. Every financial move the team makes until 2026 should be looked at through this lens. (The Cubs have just two high-priced players under contract after the 2026 season in Swanson and Imanaga.) Hoyer's past mistakes should be judged, to be sure, but he was tasked with clearing salary and building up the farm system after the pandemic. He's done both. To keep his job, the major-league club has to show results this year. I think that's fair. All we're talking about is winning the NL Central. Cubs manager Craig Counsell isn't making $8 million this year for his news conferences alone. For the Cubs to win 100 games, a lot has to go right. For them to win 90, they just can't have everything go wrong. Swanson, the team's highest-priced player, needs to have a bounce-back season after core surgery. Happ and Suzuki have to hit all season, the veteran relievers added to the bullpen can't cost the team games like last year and young position players such as Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matt Shaw need to prove they belong. There are plenty of variables at work for a win-now season, yet I'm optimistic. The Cubs might have been a 90-win team last year if not for an underfunded bullpen. This season should have more highs and lows. I think the Cubs have enough to win the division and end the season in October. Can they compete with the Dodgers? In October, probably not. But in March, we'll watch with bleary eyes as they try. (Photo of Kyle Tucker: Kenta Harada / Getty Images)
Chicago Tribune
13-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts sticks to the script when telling CNBC his philosophy on spending
At their first Cubs Convention as owners in 2010, Tom, Laura, Pete and Todd Ricketts answered fans' questions at a seminar and received a nice round of applause. Todd Ricketts that day said the four siblings would stay out of the spotlight, much like previous Cubs bosses from Tribune Co. 'After today, I don't think you'll see a lot of us in the media,' Todd said. 'Tom will be our spokesman, but I don't think he'll ever be commenting on the players or the team specifically.' Fifteen years later, the Rickettses still avoid the media for the most part, including last month at spring training when Tom Ricketts bounced after giving his stump speech to the players before the first full-squad workout. Beat writers were left with a lot of questions but no answers. The word was that Ricketts was in a hurry to begin a family vacation and had no time for any chitchat. Fortunately he survived the family vacation and found some time this week to appear before a live Chicago audience for a CNBC Sports videocast. There was no booing or heckling about spending, so we can assume these were not your average Cubs fans. Ricketts didn't reveal any big news, though he did say the Cubs are the 'team to beat' in the National League Central, that baseball is still 'America's pastime' and that the family only hopes to break even every year. No, really. 'Well, maybe using the word 'break even' wasn't the way I wanted to say that,' he admitted, correcting an earlier quote he gave to USA Today that Cubs fans 'somehow think we have all these dollars that the Dodgers have or the Mets have or the Yankees have, and we just keep it. It's not true. We just try to break even every year.' Plenty of fanfare awaits Chicago Cubs for anticipated Tokyo Series vs. Los Angeles Dodgers. Here's what to know. So what is it then? 'Just want people to know that every dollar spent at the ballpark goes back into putting a more competitive team on the field,' he told CNBC. 'Away from that, every Cubs fan knows we've invested roughly a billion dollars into Wrigley Field itself and the neighborhood around (it). 'So it's not a matter of us not investing. We are putting the best team on the field that we can every year. But there are teams that have resources that we don't, and (there is) nothing we can do about that. Fortunately for baseball, player development is as important as how much you're spending on free agents. We just keep grinding and doing the blocking and tackling that build the organization from the bottom up and hopefully makes us competitive on a consistent basis.' It was here that a notification from USA Today popped up on my phone reporting the Cubs were negotiating with former White Sox starter Lance Lynn, who turns 38 in May and has gone the entire winter unwanted. Because of an inadvertent phone accident, I was forced to resume watching the CNBC video on my iPad. Ricketts reiterated his stance that spending doesn't mean anything in the postseason as long as you make it, which he said is the opposite of the NFL or the NBA, where 'typically the team that had a better regular season almost always wins the playoffs matchup.' 'In baseball we just want to be consistent,' he said. Ricketts said their strategy has 'been the same since Day 1 — that's be consistent and make the playoffs.' The Cubs have not made the playoffs since 2020, and not in a full season since 2018. They have no postseason wins since 2017. That's consistency. But this year will be different, Ricketts said, thanks to team President Jed Hoyer's deft offseason maneuvering. 'Jed Hoyer has done a pretty good job of bringing us back up from a couple bad years we've had,' he said. 'We have a really good farm system, and we've supplemented it with several good free agents over the last couple years. Going into this year we should be the team to beat in our division, and if we win our division then anything can happen. And we believe we'll be back in the mix this year.' 'Anything Can Happen' should be the Cubs' new marketing slogan. It's not only true but it aptly describes the team's philosophy when it comes to putting a roster together. Spend enough to contend, avoid getting over the luxury-tax threshold and cross your fingers come October. Last year they paid $570,000 for exceeding the threshold by $2.85 million, so instead of signing a free-agent ace such as Corbin Burnes or Max Fried, the Cubs look for low-risk starters such as Matthew Boyd, Colin Rea and perhaps even a 37-year-old Lynn for a fraction of the cost. Instead of a getting a top third baseman in Alex Bregman, they sign backup infielder/DH Justin Turner for $6 million. It's the Cubs Way. Asked about some players he might have regretted not getting, Ricketts recalled sitting with former President Theo Epstein and spending 'a lot of time thinking about Bryce Harper's worth as a free agent. ' 'That's one we kicked around that obviously we never executed on,' he said without elaborating on why the Cubs passed. Curiously, when Harper was still available in February 2019, Ricketts was asked why they weren't in on him or any other top unsigned free agent. ''That's a pretty easy question to answer,' he said. 'We don't have any more (money). The fact is that we've been in the top five in baseball spending for the last five or six years. We were in the top couple in spending last year. We've put our money back on the field. Unfortunately, you just can't have a high-profile free agent every year, and part of that obviously is how much it costs — the $25 or $30 million it's going to cost — plus it's a 10-year commitment, and you've got to pay those dollars.' Remember those words in November when we'll find out whether the Cubs can keep their own high-profile free agent, Kyle Tucker, who should command more than the $25.6 million annual salary Harper received in 2019 with his 13-year, $330 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Hoyer's acquisition of Tucker means the Cubs should win the division in 2025, so maybe a one-year rental is the way to go. And if they do, Ricketts might get a chance to see if his theory on the MLB playoffs versus the NFL and NBA playoffs is valid. Then again, who knows? Anything can happen.
