Year #1-Ricketts Regime

[J.R.]

http://cubs.truelook.com/timages/live20/chicagocubs/chicagocubs_cubs_club_only_camera2/imgbuf/buf_249/1286312351720318.jpg

[Outshined_One]

http://cubs.truelook.com/timages/live20/chicagocubs/chicagocubs_cubs_club_only_camera2/imgbuf/buf_249/1286312351720318.jpg

 

Is that a volleyball net? :-s

[pitchcs]

Here is the letter Tom Ricketts sent to season ticket holders, received today:

 

 

It has been an incredible year for my family in our first season as

stewards of the Chicago Cubs. Of all the new experiences, none was more

enjoyable than the opportunity to meet and spend time with you---our

season ticket holders.

 

We met many of you during our game day walks through Wrigley Field.

Over the course of those games, you welcomed me and my family, you

shared your thoughts and suggestions on improving the team and the

ballpark, we celebrated some wins and, unfortunately, suffered too many

losses.

 

One of the highlights of the year was our first ever season ticket

holder "open house" on July 8th. On that day alone I met more than 2100

of you, as we spent a day together in the greatest ballpark on earth.

(For all who have inquired---yes, we are going to host that event again

and in fact we will double up with a night session as well).

 

As our most highly valued customers, your opinions are invaluable as we

move our organization forward. In fact, you will soon be contacted to

participate in a quality assurance survey as we consider amenity

upgrades and look to identify ways to improve your experience at Wrigley

Field.

 

On behalf of my entire family, thank you for your warm welcome and your

incredible support of the Cubs organization. You are truly our partners

and we respect your contribution and insights.

 

 

2010 Review

 

The 2010 season was a disappointment for all at the major league

level-for my family, for the organization, for the players and for the

fans. The team showed signs of its potential the last quarter of the

season, but the 75-87 record fell well short of our goals. My family is

committed to winning a World Series and though it may not be entirely

evident from this year's performance, there are encouraging signs.

 

The 2010 highlights revolved around our home grown talent. Starlin

Castro, Tyler Colvin and Andrew Cashner developed into budding stars,

with Castro and Colvin in the NL Rookie of the Year discussion. That

young group was enhanced by the August promotion of Casey Coleman, who

went 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA in his last four starts. All need to take the

next step in 2011, but we are very encouraged to have a group of young,

home grown players emerge as regulars in 2010.

 

We also have to recognize the superb job done by another one of our

own-Mike Quade. During the final 37 games, the team played at a .649

clip (24-13), the second best record in the majors over that timeframe.

Making this even more significant, we played largely against teams

fighting for playoff berths.

 

It is my strong belief that, in the end, it is organizations with strong

farm systems that win championships and I am convinced that our

organization is making progress.

 

Our success in producing talent from within our system can be attributed

to a number of factors, including a commitment of financial resources.

We believe we have one of the best scouting directors in baseball in Tim

Wilken (now 4 years in place) and with a strong farm director in Oneri

Fleita and a very productive international effort, we are making

progress in what had been a weak spot in the organization.

 

Our farm clubs performed very well in 2010, playing to a collective

374-316 record, with first place finishes at both the Triple-A level in

Iowa (tied) and Double-A level in Tennessee. The overall .542 winning

percentage was second among all major league organizations and our 374

wins were the most for the Cubs organization in 15 years. As I said at

our opening press conference about a year ago, we are committed to

winning the right way---with our farm system. We believe we are on the

right track.

 

 

2011 Preview

 

We are early in the process of building the club for 2011. The first

order of business is hiring our manager. Jim Hendry has identified a

strong group of candidates and we are currently completing our

interviews. This is a critical decision and I am confident we will find

the right person to lead the club.

 

The strength of our team in 2010 was our starting pitching, as we led

the National League with 96 quality starts. We expect that to continue.

We are excited to see the continued development of our young players and

the strong bullpen work anchored by Carlos Marmol (38 saves and a

reliever-franchise record 138 strikeouts) and Sean Marshall (2.65 ERA,

22 holds).

 

Going forward, we recognize the need to recommit to fundamentals. We

need to stabilize our defense and cut down on errors. We need to

improve our offense and become more efficient in both moving runners and

hitting with players in scoring position. It is too early to determine

whether this will be addressed with internal moves, trades or through

free agent acquisitions. But we know we must improve in these areas.

 

Given that we had the highest payroll in the NL in 2010, I get a lot of

questions about our payroll commitment for 2011. As I said earlier, we

are still working on our 2011 baseball plan, so it is hard to be too

specific at this time. What I can tell you is that our overall baseball

budget (scouting, player development and payroll) will be about the same

in 2011 as it was in 2010. Continued long term success will come

through superior scouting and player development, and we are committed

to improving that facet of the organization. As a result, this likely

means a shift of some of our resources from the major league payroll

toward scouting and player development, but we are still very much in

the evaluation phase.

 

 

2011 Ticket Pricing

 

The other question I get regularly concerns our ticket pricing for 2011

and beyond. Overall, our average ticket price will be flat in 2011

compared to 2010. Before going into greater detail on that topic, let

me provide some background.

 

My family is committed to providing ticket pricing that allows families

to enjoy Cubs baseball. In so many ways, our children represent the

next generation in the Cubs family. We want to invest in providing

families with opportunities to experience Wrigley Field, including such

things as running the bases, which will be continued in 2011.

 

To this end, we will continue the policy of keeping many of our tickets

in the sub $10 range-in fact, we will offer a substantial increase in

sub-$10 tickets next year compared to 2010.

 

In addition, we are increasing the number of bronze games (our lowest

ticket pricing tier) from 6 games in 2010 to 15 games in the bleachers

and 11 games in the grandstand in 2011. As a result, there will be 77%

more tickets priced at $20 or less in 2011 than there were in 2010.

Stated differently, a total of more than 550,000 tickets will be

available for $20 or less next year.

 

Again, our average ticket price next year will be essentially flat

compared to 2010 (actually it is fractionally down vs. 2010). This does

not mean all ticket prices will be the same as last year however, as

pricing was adjusted based on location and our schedule. A little

background might be helpful.

 

To set our pricing in 2011, we examined approximately 5 million

transactions from our primary and secondary ticket markets from 2005

through 2010. Our goal was to keep our average ticket price flat

overall but improve the alignment of pricing for games and seating

sections with actual demand. The result is a market-based ticket model

that reflects our fans' buying patterns.

 

The highlights include: (1) reducing the average ticket price for all

gold, silver and bronze games, (2) separating the bleachers and

grandstands in the pricing tiers, as the buying patterns vary

significantly for each area, and (3) adding a new fifth tier of pricing

(Marquee Tier) for our highest demand games.

 

Cutting through it all, the net result for our season ticket holders is

that some will see a slight (in all cases, less than 3%) increase,

others will see a reduction as much as 6% and some will see virtually no

change at all.

 

Other changes in 2011 include new season ticket holder benefits. Over

the years, we have added significant benefits to being a Cubs season

ticket holder, such as a dedicated area within our website, early access

to Spring Training tickets and other special events (such as the very

popular Dave Matthews concerts and Allstate Wrigleyville Classic

football game coming in November), and last year's open house.

 

For 2011, there are a number of new benefits that I think you will find

interesting. Among them is exclusive access to our players, coaches,

manager, front office and ownership through Cubs Insider Webcasts that

will occur throughout the year. In addition to updates on everything

happening inside the ballclub, these webcasts will provide you the

opportunity to ask questions on topics of your choice. A Season Ticket

Holder Benefit page follows this letter and you should ask your Cubs

representative about any of the items listed there.

 

 

Wrigley Field Renovations

 

Like you, we love Wrigley Field and are committed to winning a

championship at the Friendly Confines. We all need to recognize,

however, that our wonderful Wrigley Field is fast approaching 100 years

of age and is in need of substantial improvements. We committed over

$10 million to that effort last year, largely to improve restrooms, add

new food options, recast concrete, upgrade steel and other general

maintenance. We will continue this effort in 2011 but again the focus

will be more tactical than strategic.

 

We spent much of the 2010 season assembling a team of renowned

architects, engineers, designers and project managers to develop a

master plan for a more significant Wrigley Field overhaul and Triangle

Building development. Our planning will continue in 2011 and your

involvement through the quality assurance surveys mentioned earlier is

very important. We look forward to completing the analysis phase and

getting underway with the construction and occupation phase.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Thank you again for your incredible support of Cubs baseball and the

Ricketts family. We have spent our adult lives sitting next to you

cheering for our team. We now have the responsibility to improve not

only the play on the field but also to protect and save our summer home,

Wrigley Field. With your help we will accomplish both.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Tom

[SouthSideRyan]

I know you shouldn't read much into these things but:

 

Going forward, we recognize the need to recommit to fundamentals. We

need to stabilize our defense and cut down on errors. We need to

improve our offense and become more efficient in both moving runners and

hitting with players in scoring position. It is too early to determine

whether this will be addressed with internal moves, trades or through

free agent acquisitions. But we know we must improve in these areas.

 

Given that we had the highest payroll in the NL in 2010, I get a lot of

questions about our payroll commitment for 2011. As I said earlier, we

are still working on our 2011 baseball plan, so it is hard to be too

specific at this time. What I can tell you is that our overall baseball

budget (scouting, player development and payroll) will be about the same

in 2011 as it was in 2010. Continued long term success will come

through superior scouting and player development, and we are committed

to improving that facet of the organization. As a result, this likely

means a shift of some of our resources from the major league payroll

toward scouting and player development, but we are still very much in

the evaluation phase.

 

Is a depressing 2 paragraph run.

[Magnetic Curses]

yeah, these owners are a step in the wrong direction.

[tfarks]

Hendry is a farking cancer. Its too bad Ricketts gobbles this [expletive] up.

 

As far as the payroll staying the same if not lowering next year isn't that big a deal, Ricketts could give Hendry 200 million and the Cubs would still suck. I feel like Ricketts is using the promise of improving the farm system to save money from the major league payroll while not actually increasing the farm budget significantly at all.

[davell]

If the major league payroll drops and the difference from last season to next year's payroll ACTUALLY IS put back into the minor league system, then that's a bright spot as far as I'm concerned anyway. Putting it in writing wants me to believe him about this.

 

 

As far as moving runners over, hitting with men in scoring position, blah, blah, blah........Jim Hendry is a disease that's already affected the new owners.

[pitchcs]

If the major league payroll drops and the difference from last season to next year's payroll ACTUALLY IS put back into the minor league system, then that's a bright spot as far as I'm concerned anyway. Putting it in writing wants me to believe him about this.

 

 

As far as moving runners over, hitting with men in scoring position, blah, blah, blah........Jim Hendry is a disease that's already affected the new owners.

 

The common fan believes heavily in hitting with RISP; I have no doubt that Ricketts is simply a "common fan"

[Guest]

They can move as much money from the Major League payroll to player development as they want, as far as I'm concerned.

[TruffleShuffle]

They can move as much money from the Major League payroll to player development as they want, as far as I'm concerned.

 

agree 1000%. that will pay off big in the long run, as long as you're hiring decent people to scout the amateur talent and then coach the guys after they sign.

[Outshined_One]

They can move as much money from the Major League payroll to player development as they want, as far as I'm concerned.

 

agree 1000%. that will pay off big in the long run, as long as you're hiring decent people to scout the amateur talent and then coach the guys after they sign.

 

Don't forget being willing to fork over money to sign players. Another $1m - $2m would go a long, long way.

[TruffleShuffle]

They can move as much money from the Major League payroll to player development as they want, as far as I'm concerned.

 

agree 1000%. that will pay off big in the long run, as long as you're hiring decent people to scout the amateur talent and then coach the guys after they sign.

 

Don't forget being willing to fork over money to sign players. Another $1m - $2m would go a long, long way.

 

yeah we should be doing what the red sox are doing every year.

 

that being said, i haven't really liked some of the tim wilken big bonus signings. if you're going to grab guys in the later rounds, sign guys who would have been drafted early if not for big bonus demands or perceived strong commitments to colleges. don't give $1.3m to a guy who blew out his elbow his junior year and pitched 5 innings his senior year (huseby) or half a million to guys who aren't all that highly regarded outside your organization (rundle, watkins), and absolutely under no circumstances should you give $10 million to a wide receiver.

 

they've seemed to do better with the guys like mcnutt who are certainly over slot, but not huge dollars.

[YearofDaCubs]

The simple fact that they are keeping Hendry on board makes year one of the new regime a failure.

[C.C.]

Yeah, Year 1 sucked, and I'm worried about the future of the franchise.

[Sammy Sofa]

Really? It's been pretty shitty for a while.

[C.C.]

Really? It's been pretty [expletive] for a while.

 

Yes really....I've been worried a really, really [expletive] long time.

[illiniguy]

Really? It's been pretty [expletive] for a while.

Sadly '03-'08 was as good a run as many Cubs fans have ever experienced.

[illiniguy]

ricketts needs to fire hendry to make a statement about which direction the franchise is headed.

 

if he's serious about embracing the sabr movement, he needs to bring in a young, outsider GM with a very structured and goal-oriented approach to taking this team to where a large market ballclub should be and within 5 years, and keeping them there.

 

i've had enough of the traditional home remedies, it's time this team got serious about the science behind the game and hired a real doctor to fix its problems.

 

I'd be really interested in that as well, but as Mojo said, it's not likely to happen. There aren't a bunch of Theo Epsteins out there and the ones who were compared to him (Dayton Moore especially) haven't turned out to be nearly as good. Though Ricketts saying he wanted to model us after the Red Sox gives me some hope.

I would rather have Dayton Moore running our team than Jim Hendry. Moore may suck, but his Tim Wilken is a lot better at what he does than our Tim Wilken. The Royals have a ton of talent ready to come up. I know Dayton has crapped his pants with some big league moves, but at least he has built a very deep system.

[XZero771679666304]

Really? It's been pretty [expletive] for a while.

Sadly '03-'08 was as good a run as many Cubs fans have ever experienced.

 

Best run in my lifetime, for sure.

 

And I'm going to wait and see how this offseason plays out before I start to get perturbed about the future.

[C.C.]

Really? It's been pretty [expletive] for a while.

Sadly '03-'08 was as good a run as many Cubs fans have ever experienced.

 

84 still kills me.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Ive been a Cubs fan since the '84 playoffs when my grandmother got me watching them. Between then and 2003, I say through some complete [expletive] teams. Aside from '89 and to a lesser extent, '98, mediocre would describe the better seasons. However, I was a big fan, so I sat through it none the less as did most fans. However, since '03 and '07-'08, Cubs fans have developed something called expectations. Loveable losers wont do any more. Will I give up on them? Absolutely not. However, a lot of fans very well might. While the 100 year drought is a pretty cool sports story, 101, 102, 105, 110 years if just pathetic. Sure, we can all see who needs the bandwagon fans, but the answer is the Cubs as a business and an organization. When Wrigley Field constantly sells out, a lot of it is the "uneducated fans" and "bandwagon fans", and there money is just as good as the more knowledgeable and dedicted fans. If the baseball idiots, as Boers and Bernstein calls them stop going to games, thats a lot of revenue lost, and in order to put money into the team, you need to fill those seats, no matter if they're a life long fan or just in it for the over priced beer or they think that Blake DeWitts a hottie.

 

A lot of people say that no matter how the Cubs or White Sox do, The Cubs will always have the Chicago baseball market cornered, at least the North Side and suburbs but I remember 2005 when I saw an abundance of Konerko and Buerhle jerseys walking around Old Orchard and Northbrook Court which promptly dissapeared in 2007 when the Cubs got good again.

[Benchwarmer]

Ive been a Cubs fan since the '84 playoffs when my grandmother got me watching them. Between then and 2003, I say through some complete [expletive] teams. Aside from '89 and to a lesser extent, '98, mediocre would describe the better seasons. However, I was a big fan, so I sat through it none the less as did most fans. However, since '03 and '07-'08, Cubs fans have developed something called expectations. Loveable losers wont do any more. Will I give up on them? Absolutely not. However, a lot of fans very well might. While the 100 year drought is a pretty cool sports story, 101, 102, 105, 110 years if just pathetic. Sure, we can all see who needs the bandwagon fans, but the answer is the Cubs as a business and an organization. When Wrigley Field constantly sells out, a lot of it is the "uneducated fans" and "bandwagon fans", and there money is just as good as the more knowledgeable and dedicted fans. If the baseball idiots, as Boers and Bernstein calls them stop going to games, thats a lot of revenue lost, and in order to put money into the team, you need to fill those seats, no matter if they're a life long fan or just in it for the over priced beer or they think that Blake DeWitts a hottie.

 

A lot of people say that no matter how the Cubs or White Sox do, The Cubs will always have the Chicago baseball market cornered, at least the North Side and suburbs but I remember 2005 when I saw an abundance of Konerko and Buerhle jerseys walking around Old Orchard and Northbrook Court which promptly dissapeared in 2007 when the Cubs got good again.

 

Great post!!!!

 

If I hear David Kaplan say one more time : "The next Cub manager should understand the Cubs history." it makes me want to drive a stake thru his heart. What history? 102 years of losing history? Years of being the doormat? This franchise wallows in the 1969 history. Ernie, Fergie, Santo, Billy, Hundley..blah..blah. That was 41 years ago. I want a GM, manager, ownership and players who could care less about that and want to win today..each game and not take a nap during May-September.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Ive been a Cubs fan since the '84 playoffs when my grandmother got me watching them. Between then and 2003, I say through some complete [expletive] teams. Aside from '89 and to a lesser extent, '98, mediocre would describe the better seasons. However, I was a big fan, so I sat through it none the less as did most fans. However, since '03 and '07-'08, Cubs fans have developed something called expectations. Loveable losers wont do any more. Will I give up on them? Absolutely not. However, a lot of fans very well might. While the 100 year drought is a pretty cool sports story, 101, 102, 105, 110 years if just pathetic. Sure, we can all see who needs the bandwagon fans, but the answer is the Cubs as a business and an organization. When Wrigley Field constantly sells out, a lot of it is the "uneducated fans" and "bandwagon fans", and there money is just as good as the more knowledgeable and dedicted fans. If the baseball idiots, as Boers and Bernstein calls them stop going to games, thats a lot of revenue lost, and in order to put money into the team, you need to fill those seats, no matter if they're a life long fan or just in it for the over priced beer or they think that Blake DeWitts a hottie.

 

A lot of people say that no matter how the Cubs or White Sox do, The Cubs will always have the Chicago baseball market cornered, at least the North Side and suburbs but I remember 2005 when I saw an abundance of Konerko and Buerhle jerseys walking around Old Orchard and Northbrook Court which promptly dissapeared in 2007 when the Cubs got good again.

 

Great post!!!!

 

If I hear David Kaplan say one more time : "The next Cub manager should understand the Cubs history." it makes me want to drive a stake thru his heart. What history? 102 years of losing history? Years of being the doormat? This franchise wallows in the 1969 history. Ernie, Fergie, Santo, Billy, Hundley..blah..blah. That was 41 years ago. I want a GM, manager, ownership and players who could care less about that and want to win today..each game and not take a nap during May-September.

 

I do despise the glorification of the 1969 Cubs. Granted, they were a great team, but they choked. Same goes for the '84, '03, and '08 teams. Sure, I enjoyed every moment of the 2008 season, at least until October, but then again, Im sure the folks on the Titanic were having a grand old time up until the end of their ride, and in the end, thats what they(the survivors anyway) remembered it for.

[Eric Clipperton]

tango for gm. i have no idea what he's talking about most of the time, but he sure sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

 

Pretty much the only gm hire I'd be 100% behind.

[Tracer Bullet]

I know you shouldn't read much into these things but:

 

Going forward, we recognize the need to recommit to fundamentals. We

need to stabilize our defense and cut down on errors. We need to

improve our offense and become more efficient in both moving runners and

hitting with players in scoring position. It is too early to determine

whether this will be addressed with internal moves, trades or through

free agent acquisitions. But we know we must improve in these areas.

 

Given that we had the highest payroll in the NL in 2010, I get a lot of

questions about our payroll commitment for 2011. As I said earlier, we

are still working on our 2011 baseball plan, so it is hard to be too

specific at this time. What I can tell you is that our overall baseball

budget (scouting, player development and payroll) will be about the same

in 2011 as it was in 2010. Continued long term success will come

through superior scouting and player development, and we are committed

to improving that facet of the organization. As a result, this likely

means a shift of some of our resources from the major league payroll

toward scouting and player development, but we are still very much in

the evaluation phase.

 

Is a depressing 2 paragraph run.

 

That first paragraph is a gun shot to the nuts. I'm all for improving defense, but focusing on errors? Improving offense? Sure!! Move runners over and hitting with RISP. Did Hendry hack into Ricketts' email account?

 

That one paragraph pretty much ruined the off-season for me.