Chicago Cubs Offseason Check-Up

It’s late November, but when your football team is playing like the Bears are, it’s never too early to talk baseball. I teamed up with SimonOnSports to chat about expectations for the Chicago Cubs heading into 2010.

1. The 2009 season was a massive disappointment for Cubs fans. What
went wrong? Where must they improve to once again take home the
division?
The main issue with the Cubs is that they’ve put money into the wrong
people. The contracts given to guys like Alfonso Soriano and Carlos
Zambrano are way too long and way too lucrative. They have to find a
better balance if they hope to become successful again and moves like
giving John Grabow a two-year, $7.5 million extension this offseason
aren’t a good start.

2. The Ricketts family just purchased the Cubs from the Tribune
Company. What impact do you see this having on the team? Will they be
throwing around money this offseason?
The problem with the Cubs in the past few years hasn’t been a lack of
spending, but rather a misappropriation of funds. Unlike Sam Zell and
the Tribune Company, I think the Ricketts intend to help the team win,
not just become more profitable. I hope they follow through with their
professed desire to make the team better without sacrificing
fan-friendly aspects of the Cubs, like the integrity of Wrigley Field.

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Cubs’ Ricketts Speaks to NPR, Season Ticket Holders

If you didn’t get a chance to hear from new Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts at today’s introductory press conference, you’re in luck. At 10am on Saturday, NPR News’ Weekend Edition will air an extensive interview with the man who, along with his brothers and sister, took over ownership of the Cubs organization today.

NPR has already released some excerpts from the interview and a full transcript will be available at NPR.org Saturday at 10am.

Though the Ricketts family currently
has no plans to shake up management, in the interview with [Weekend Edition host Scott] Simon the new
chairman shares many ideas about how to improve the franchise, including
developing property adjacent to Wrigley Field, how family ownership benefits
fans and using the Boston Red Sox as a model for both rehabbing a landmark
vintage ballpark and turning a losing club into a winner.

Many of the topics Ricketts spoke about in his press conference today are also covered in the interview. When asked about the future of Wrigley Field, he told NPR’s Simon:  

“First of all, we want this to be the best franchise
in baseball, and you can’t be a world-class franchise and have
third-class facilities…there is land that
is just adjacent to the stadium, along Clark Street, that the team owns and we
intend to develop that into a part of the stadium, that will give fans more
options on game day, but as importantly free up space inside of the stadium to
build in some of the clubhouse functionality that other teams enjoy.”

Ricketts isn’t saving his words for the media, though. In addition to the NPR interview and today’s press conference, the new Cubs chairman also connected directly with Cubs fans, sending out an email to all of the team’s season ticket holders: