Ricketts Family Wins Cubs Bid

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

That Klaff guy sounds like a real D-Bag. Go buy the Chicago Fire please.

[Sammy Sofa]

Klaff sounds like a bad James Bond villain.

[CoolHandLuke]

Yeah guys, I don't want an African-American owning the team either.

 

 

 

 

 

For serious though, would Klaff be considered an African-American?

 

 

Hearing Utay's and Rickett's backgrounds makes me a lot more comfortable with the prospects of them as owner.

[TarzanJoeWallis]

Speaking of Cuban, he had really long blog post today about his involvement in the sale of the Cubs. Not sure if it's worth its own thread, so I'll just post the link here:

 

http://blogmaverick.com/2009/01/06/the-cubs/

 

I had no intentions of trying to outspend the Yankees or Red Sox. There was no reason to. I didnt have to beat either of those teams unless I made it to the World Series. The only teams I had to be better than were those in the National League, and more importantly, those in my division. There were no big spending rivals close to home, so the AL East could spend themselves silly. My plans were to spend to win, not to spend for spending’s sake. IMHO, the money I could save being in the 2nd tier of payroll could be invested in scouting and development. I made this clear to any and all of the owners that I spoke to across the league. Of course that didnt stop some from trying to convince some owners otherwise.

 

:(

 

That...is beyond depressing.

 

He needs to become a minority owner with whoever wins the bid.

 

Maybe everyone is excited that he would put money in scouting and development, but isn't he saying the same things Andy MacPhail always got bashed for--be good enough to win the division and take your chance in the playoffs?

[SouthSideRyan]

 

Maybe everyone is excited that he would put money in scouting and development, but isn't he saying the same things Andy MacPhail always got bashed for--be good enough to win the division and take your chance in the playoffs?

 

MacPhail wanted to be "competitive within the division"

 

Cuban was talking of not worrying about what the Red Sox/Yankees do because it'd be one 7 game series. My reading of it, said go out build the best team in the NL, and worry about the Red Sox/Yankees if you get to Late October.

[UMFan83]

Speaking of Cuban, he had really long blog post today about his involvement in the sale of the Cubs. Not sure if it's worth its own thread, so I'll just post the link here:

 

http://blogmaverick.com/2009/01/06/the-cubs/

 

I had no intentions of trying to outspend the Yankees or Red Sox. There was no reason to. I didnt have to beat either of those teams unless I made it to the World Series. The only teams I had to be better than were those in the National League, and more importantly, those in my division. There were no big spending rivals close to home, so the AL East could spend themselves silly. My plans were to spend to win, not to spend for spending’s sake. IMHO, the money I could save being in the 2nd tier of payroll could be invested in scouting and development. I made this clear to any and all of the owners that I spoke to across the league. Of course that didnt stop some from trying to convince some owners otherwise.

 

:(

 

That...is beyond depressing.

 

He needs to become a minority owner with whoever wins the bid.

 

Maybe everyone is excited that he would put money in scouting and development, but isn't he saying the same things Andy MacPhail always got bashed for--be good enough to win the division and take your chance in the playoffs?

 

Yeah but he didn't follow through.

[Soul]

Hmmm, I never thought Cuban was automatically going to come in here and spend like a demon. I thought he would come in and make some big changes though -- sounds like he would have.

 

Pull this blog out in 10 years, see if we laugh or cry. It will be interesting.

[David]

I like the idea of Ricketts or Utay actually.

 

At the very least, you would think a guy who was as big a fan as Ricketts was (if everything it says about him is true), would be committed to winning and putting forth as much of the team's resources as he can into the product.

 

Anyway, is one of these guys the pink Cubs hat guy?

[CP_414]

I like the idea of Ricketts or Utay actually.

 

At the very least, you would think a guy who was as big a fan as Ricketts was (if everything it says about him is true), would be committed to winning and putting forth as much of the team's resources as he can into the product.

 

Anyway, is one of these guys the pink Cubs hat guy?

 

No. I think his name is Jim Anixler.

 

I like that Ricketts is a fan, I'm sure he would put money into the team, but I worry that he is a dumb fan. Dumb Cubs fans have some awful ideas about what this team needs. He seems like the best option at this point anyway.

[jersey cubs fan]

I like the idea of Ricketts or Utay actually.

 

At the very least, you would think a guy who was as big a fan as Ricketts was (if everything it says about him is true), would be committed to winning and putting forth as much of the team's resources as he can into the product.

 

Anyway, is one of these guys the pink Cubs hat guy?

 

No. I think his name is Jim Anixler.

 

I like that Ricketts is a fan, I'm sure he would put money into the team, but I worry that he is a dumb fan. Dumb Cubs fans have some awful ideas about what this team needs. He seems like the best option at this point anyway.

 

Fans can really screw up a team.

[shnsajax]

I like the idea of Ricketts or Utay actually.

 

At the very least, you would think a guy who was as big a fan as Ricketts was (if everything it says about him is true), would be committed to winning and putting forth as much of the team's resources as he can into the product.

 

Anyway, is one of these guys the pink Cubs hat guy?

 

No. I think his name is Jim Anixler.

 

I like that Ricketts is a fan, I'm sure he would put money into the team, but I worry that he is a dumb fan. Dumb Cubs fans have some awful ideas about what this team needs. He seems like the best option at this point anyway.

 

He still sounds more like a business man that a fan which is a good thing. Then again he has to be doing something right to have that net worth.

[Elrhino]

But seriously, the timing of the decision to move forward with his insider trading allegation is really suspicious.

 

Not so suspicious when within that same time frame is the worst financial crisis in most of our lifetimes.

 

That can kind of throw a monkey wrench in plans to.

[Backtobanks]

If we can't have Cuban, let's go for Ricketts.

 

Cubs' New Owner Might Push For Peavy

By Ben Jones [January 9 at 5:35pm CST]

Barry Rozner of the Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Ill.) believes a new Chicago Cubs owner might increase general manager Jim Hendry's payroll budget, which would make room to acquire Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy from the San Diego Padres. Especially if that new owner is Tom Ricketts.

 

Ricketts will want to win and win fast, so if it's him and it happens soon his first call might be to GM Jim Hendry with the news that he can up the payroll and get Peavy out of San Diego, Rozner writes.

 

Ricketts is the CEO of a Chicago investment bank named Incapital. Rozner wrote that Ricketts is a local guy who loves the Cubs and will have only their "best interests at heart. He even, reportedly, met his wife in the bleachers at Wrigley."

 

Peavy has been the subject of trade rumors since the offseason began, and the Cubs have been mentioned often in the same sentence.

[Sammy Sofa]

Ricketts it is.

 

Make it so.

[third eye]

I like the idea of Ricketts or Utay actually.

 

At the very least, you would think a guy who was as big a fan as Ricketts was (if everything it says about him is true), would be committed to winning and putting forth as much of the team's resources as he can into the product.

 

Anyway, is one of these guys the pink Cubs hat guy?

 

No. I think his name is Jim Anixler.

 

I like that Ricketts is a fan, I'm sure he would put money into the team, but I worry that he is a dumb fan. Dumb Cubs fans have some awful ideas about what this team needs. He seems like the best option at this point anyway.

 

He still sounds more like a business man that a fan which is a good thing. Then again he has to be doing something right to have that net worth.

 

Yep, it's great that he is a fan in that he's less likely to run the franchise as a cash cow. But it is more important that he is someone with great business skills. I guess that could be said about most owners, but I would hope for something closer to what the Rays current management team did. Their experience in the hedge fund industry gave them the skills to learn about a market and recognize arbitrage opportunities - the very essence of moneyball. They put the right people in place to be talent evaluators, but adopted a more forward thinking approach to making relative value judgments about the assets they had and the ones they wanted.

[Illini Iceman]

I like the idea of Ricketts or Utay actually.

 

At the very least, you would think a guy who was as big a fan as Ricketts was (if everything it says about him is true), would be committed to winning and putting forth as much of the team's resources as he can into the product.

 

Anyway, is one of these guys the pink Cubs hat guy?

 

No. I think his name is Jim Anixler.

 

I like that Ricketts is a fan, I'm sure he would put money into the team, but I worry that he is a dumb fan. Dumb Cubs fans have some awful ideas about what this team needs. He seems like the best option at this point anyway.

 

He still sounds more like a business man that a fan which is a good thing. Then again he has to be doing something right to have that net worth.

 

Yep, it's great that he is a fan in that he's less likely to run the franchise as a cash cow. But it is more important that he is someone with great business skills. I guess that could be said about most owners, but I would hope for something closer to what the Rays current management team did. Their experience in the hedge fund industry gave them the skills to learn about a market and recognize arbitrage opportunities - the very essence of moneyball. They put the right people in place to be talent evaluators, but adopted a more forward thinking approach to making relative value judgments about the assets they had and the ones they wanted.

 

That and their farm system was completely stocked from many years of having very high draft picks.

 

You would probably hate the Rays management if they were in Chicago. They really won't spend much money. Even with signing Burrell they have announced that means they will not be in the market to add any more significant outside salary for the next couple years. The current management was lucky enough to inherit a farm system with a lot of talent and was then patient enough to wait a while for it to develop. However, the management philosophy was more along the lines of keeping the payroll low and shopping in the bargain bin out of necessity than any real advanced "value judgements".

 

When the current group of players starts getting expensive and they have to start moving them to restock the farm system and start over we will see how saavy this management group is. There were some pretty good talent evaluators in the previous regime that gave them a very good base to start from.

[jiml60]

I like the idea of Ricketts or Utay actually.

 

At the very least, you would think a guy who was as big a fan as Ricketts was (if everything it says about him is true), would be committed to winning and putting forth as much of the team's resources as he can into the product.

 

Anyway, is one of these guys the pink Cubs hat guy?

 

No. I think his name is Jim Anixler.

 

I like that Ricketts is a fan, I'm sure he would put money into the team, but I worry that he is a dumb fan. Dumb Cubs fans have some awful ideas about what this team needs. He seems like the best option at this point anyway.

 

Sometimes I think we're all dumb for being Cub fans.

[erik316wttn]

I like the idea of Ricketts or Utay actually.

 

At the very least, you would think a guy who was as big a fan as Ricketts was (if everything it says about him is true), would be committed to winning and putting forth as much of the team's resources as he can into the product.

 

Anyway, is one of these guys the pink Cubs hat guy?

 

No. I think his name is Jim Anixler.

 

I like that Ricketts is a fan, I'm sure he would put money into the team, but I worry that he is a dumb fan. Dumb Cubs fans have some awful ideas about what this team needs. He seems like the best option at this point anyway.

 

Sometimes I think we're all dumb for being Cub fans.

 

It's not like it's a good decision, really. But this must be what its like to smoke for 30 years. You love it even though you know it's never done you any good, and it's just about impossible to quit, and you hate that you can't.

[David]

Yea, we Cubs fans have it so bad.

 

Would be much better to be a Pirates fan. Or a Royals fan. Or a Mets fan even.

 

Actually, there are plenty of teams who have won much more recently who I still wouldn't rather be a fan of. Phillies, for one.

 

Yankees and Red Sox are the only ones who have something like what we have. No nonsense about a curse is going to change my mind about that.

Edited January 10, 2009 by David

[David]

A few other teams have a pretty cool fan experience, but I'm not going to sit here and list them all.

 

I'm not trying to argue or anything, I just think being a Cubs fan is pretty awesome.

[jiml60]

Calm down, it was just a sarcastic remark.

[David]

lmfao, yea, i should calm down. i'm well known to fly off the handle here.

[David]

although the incessant negativity by some people does actually annoy me sometimes. not gonna lie.

 

that's my problem, though... i should read less or something.

[Backtobanks]

Yea, we Cubs fans have it so bad.

 

Would be much better to be a Pirates fan. Or a Royals fan. Or a Mets fan even.

 

Actually, there are plenty of teams who have won much more recently who I still wouldn't rather be fans of. Phillies, for one.

 

Yankees and Red Sox are the only ones who have something like what we have. No nonsense about a curse is going to change my mind about that.

 

Actually, everyone has won one more recently than the Cubs. :mrgreen:

[CubColtPacer]

Yea, we Cubs fans have it so bad.

 

Would be much better to be a Pirates fan. Or a Royals fan. Or a Mets fan even.

 

Actually, there are plenty of teams who have won much more recently who I still wouldn't rather be fans of. Phillies, for one.

 

Yankees and Red Sox are the only ones who have something like what we have. No nonsense about a curse is going to change my mind about that.

 

Actually, everyone has won one more recently than the Cubs. :mrgreen:

 

Not true. Nobody has waited as long as the Cubs, but the Padres, Astros, Brewers, Mariners, Rangers, Nationals, Rockies, and Rays have not won more recently than the Cubs because they have never won a WS.