Article on a Potential Cubs Owner

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

From ESPN.com... Link.

 

Mandler might soon be able to heal a century of wounds. He believes he has the money -- and soon, hopefully, the power -- to transform the Cubs from lovable losers to World Series winners.

 

He and fellow lifelong/die-hard fan Jim Anixter -- a guy most Cubs fans know as the man who spends every night game jumping in and out of his front-row, behind-home-plate seat wearing a pink Cubs hat -- have put together one of the half-dozen or so groups that during the next few months will make legitimate runs at buying the Cubs.

 

The first step in the process is supposed to happen any day now, when the Tribune Company releases the club's financial records to interested bidders. After the first round of bidding, the group will be narrowed to two or three bidders, "where the men will be separated from the boys," says one sports banker. After another round of bidding, the winning bidder will be chosen and presented to Major League Baseball for approval. The entire process, said Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman, will "hopefully" conclude by the end of the year.

[David]

Well, that answers the question about the pink hat guy.

[David]

Nevermind, just rechecked the thread. Looks like we already knew.

 

 

He's trying to appeal to us by acting like Cuban.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Here's a little more from that article...

 

Mandler is aware of all this. As he sits in his downtown office, complete with signed pictures, autographs and jerseys, not to mention a poster from the 1932 Cubs versus Yankees World Series, Mandler doesn't have to think hard to remember the letter he sent to the Wrigley Company's board of directors in 1981, offering to buy the Chicago Cubs.

 

"We offered $22 million," Mandler said.

 

But the response from the Wrigley Company was that the team wasn't for sale. Then two weeks later, Wrigley announced that the Tribune Company had bought the team for $20.5 million.

 

This time around, he says he and Anixter have put together their own group of heavy hitters, most of whom he said he can't reveal publicly. But he did say that Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Williams is part of the group. And he added that Cubs fans and Major League Baseball will be ecstatic about some of his yet-to-be-revealed long-term plans for the team and the ballpark.

 

"We're committed to winning and we're committed to Wrigley Field," Mandler said. "And we're going to do everything feasible and reasonable to win this thing. We have every intention of being one of the final groups at the table when we get down to the end."

[David]

The thing that I like about Cuban, that is probably overlooked by much of the public (though not by most on here), is his forward thinking approach.

 

Stone goes on the radio to downplay Cuban as a potential owner and he thinks that we all want him because we think he'll just buy everyone up and get us a winner. While that's part of it, that's not even the biggest part for me.

 

Cuban is a big stat guy and I'm fairly confident that he would be all about the sabermetric approach to the game. Hell, he'd probably even employ guys trying to come up with new stuff.

 

With these other guys, as much as they talk like they want to bring a winner here and spend money, there's no telling if they wouldn't just continue what has gone on here for the past few years and just spend money the wrong way.

[E.J.]

The thing that I like about Cuban, that is probably overlooked by much of the public (though not by most on here), is his forward thinking approach.

 

Stone goes on the radio to downplay Cuban as a potential owner and he thinks that we all want him because we think he'll just buy everyone up and get us a winner. While that's part of it, that's not even the biggest part for me.

 

Cuban is a big stat guy and I'm fairly confident that he would be all about the sabermetric approach to the game. Hell, he'd probably even employ guys trying to come up with new stuff.

 

With these other guys, as much as they talk like they want to bring a winner here and spend money, there's no telling if they wouldn't just continue what has gone on here for the past few years and just spend money the wrong way.

 

Exactly. Yes, Cuban has tons of money. But he also is very stats oriented, which is exactly what I want from our new owner. I want a guy who's going to bring in people who look at numbers and get guys who can take a walk.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I've said from the beginning that I want Cuban because I think he will do what it takes to win, and I'm not referring only to spending money. I also think he will do with the Cubs like he has with the Mavericks and make it a place that players will want to come to and play.

[fibro]

This is what amazed me from that article.

 

Few franchises can claim they played their first game in 1870, six years before Custer's Last Stand.

[GhostRunner]

I've been a Cubs fan my whole life, and I've never before heard of the Emil Verban Society. I knew there was a cadre of politico-celebrities that claimed to be Cubs fans, but didn't realize they had assumed a name and formed a social organization.

 

It's like the Skull & Bones Illuminati of Cubdom, all secretive and invitation-only. :shock:

[CubinNY]

This qoute to me is kind of silly

 

Listen, we want to win the World Series," Mandler says. "Multiple times. We want to bring a perennial championship contender to the North Side of Chicago. Cub fans have waited long enough. We deserve this."

I would think that any owner would want that. The question is how to go about doing it. I don't want a new package of feces with the same old faces of retread GMs, scouts, AGMs, and mangers who all Played The Game and use the same old conventional wisdom that has got the Cubs 99 years of crap.

 

I don't know that these guys will do that sort of thing, but I have my suspicions. Especially if Steve Stone is in any way linked to them.

[DivineBovine]

This qoute to me is kind of silly

 

Listen, we want to win the World Series," Mandler says. "Multiple times. We want to bring a perennial championship contender to the North Side of Chicago. Cub fans have waited long enough. We deserve this."

I would think that any owner would want that. The question is how to go about doing it. I don't want a new package of feces with the same old faces of retread GMs, scouts, AGMs, and mangers who all Played The Game and use the same old conventional wisdom that has got the Cubs 99 years of crap.

 

I don't know that these guys will do that sort of thing, but I have my suspicions. Especially if Steve Stone is in any way linked to them.

 

 

It's pretty simple in today's MLB for a big market team like the Cubs. Money. As long as Isiah Thomas doesn't decide to run an MLB team, teams that have spend money generally win. The others get hope to strike lightning with the right group of prospects and role players getting hot the right year.

 

The formula is simple. Maximize revenue and invest a fair portion of your revenue back into the team. Something that the Tribune company has not ever done until maybe this past offseason to boost the value of the team for sale.

 

I have no solid proof of this, but we will see what these smart businesspeople decide to bid on the team after they see the books. I doubt they would bid all those hundreds of millions on a team that can't make money like the Trib has claimed for so many years.

[CubinNY]

This qoute to me is kind of silly

 

Listen, we want to win the World Series," Mandler says. "Multiple times. We want to bring a perennial championship contender to the North Side of Chicago. Cub fans have waited long enough. We deserve this."

I would think that any owner would want that. The question is how to go about doing it. I don't want a new package of feces with the same old faces of retread GMs, scouts, AGMs, and mangers who all Played The Game and use the same old conventional wisdom that has got the Cubs 99 years of crap.

 

I don't know that these guys will do that sort of thing, but I have my suspicions. Especially if Steve Stone is in any way linked to them.

 

 

It's pretty simple in today's MLB for a big market team like the Cubs. Money. As long as Isiah Thomas doesn't decide to run an MLB team, teams that have spend money generally win. The others get hope to strike lightning with the right group of prospects and role players getting hot the right year.

 

The formula is simple. Maximize revenue and invest a fair portion of your revenue back into the team. Something that the Tribune company has not ever done until maybe this past offseason to boost the value of the team for sale.

 

I have no solid proof of this, but we will see what these smart businesspeople decide to bid on the team after they see the books. I doubt they would bid all those hundreds of millions on a team that can't make money like the Trib has claimed for so many years.

You couldn't be more wrong. And on every level.

[DivineBovine]

You couldn't be more wrong. And on every level.

 

 

Why do you say that?

 

Look at 2007 payrolls:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/salaries?team=nyy

 

1. NY Yankees 195,229,045

2. Boston 143,123,714

3. NY Mets 116,115,819

4. Chicago Sox 109,290,167

5. LA Angels 109,251,333

6. LA Dodgers 108,704,524

7. Seattle 106,516,833

8. Chicago Cubs 99,936,999

9. Detroit 95,180,369

10. Baltimore 95,107,808

 

 

There are exceptions, but the numbers roughly correlate with wins. You can bring up examples of teams that have won with lower payrolls, but they have a hard time contending year after year without getting lucky with some good players. Teams that are perennial contenders are going to be the ones that spend money.

 

An owner who cares more about winning as opposed to purely maximizing profit is going to spend more on the team and that will help them win. Given the Cub's fan base and market, they should make enough money to compete with NY and Boston in terms of spending. And given today's free agency rules, any team that spends like NY and Boston should be consistently competitive like they are. Why not? What about this do you think is so wrong on so many levels? Do you think is so wrong on so many levels?

[snoodmonger]

I've been a Cubs fan my whole life, and I've never before heard of the Emil Verban Society. I knew there was a cadre of politico-celebrities that claimed to be Cubs fans, but didn't realize they had assumed a name and formed a social organization.

 

It's like the Skull & Bones Illuminati of Cubdom, all secretive and invitation-only. :shock:

 

What a bunch of lameasses

[CubinNY]

You couldn't be more wrong. And on every level.

 

 

Why do you say that?

 

This topic has pretty much been beaten to death. But,

 

a> Your argument is predicated on the fact that the Trib hasn't spent money on the Cubs until recently, and that is clearly wrong.

 

b> Winning and money are correlated, but corelation and causation are horses of a different color.

 

c> Most of those winning teams also don't behave like the Cubs front office.

 

Getting more of the same only this time with passion won't get the Cubs anywhere.