Are the Ricketts Ready to Sell the Cubs

[Statyllus]

Understanding it’s difficult if not impossible to be sure how a MLB team would act in preparation of its sale, would limiting the length of player contracts to 2 or less years, trading for players under a “rental” arrangement, dumping salaries of valuable players by trading them for far less than their obvious value and not renewing baseball ops executives contracts though the contracts are expiring be an indication? 

This question was recently posed to Gemini, Google’s AI and here is its objective response. All the strategies detailed in the question are strategies all Cubs fans have observed recently.  

“Yes, the actions you described could be indicative of a team preparing for a sale, although it's important to consider other factors as well. Here's a breakdown:

• Limiting player contracts to 2 or less years: This strategy reduces long-term financial commitments, making the team more attractive to potential buyers. Short-term deals also allow for greater flexibility to adjust the roster based on player performance and market value.
• Trading for players under a "rental" arrangement: Acquiring players with expiring contracts can provide a short-term boost without long-term financial obligations. This can be appealing to buyers who may want to evaluate the team's performance with a different roster.
• Dumping salaries of valuable players: Trading away high-salaried players, even at a loss, can significantly reduce payroll expenses. This can improve the team's short-term financial outlook and make it more appealing to potential buyers.
• Not renewing baseball ops executives' contracts: This signals a potential shift in the team's direction and can be seen as a way to clear the way for a new ownership group to bring in their own leadership team.

However, it's crucial to remember that these actions can also be taken for other reasons, such as:

• Rebuilding efforts: A team may be focused on rebuilding its farm system and acquiring young talent, which can involve trading away veteran players and prioritizing short-term deals.
• Financial constraints: A team may be facing financial difficulties and need to reduce payroll to stay competitive.
• Shifting team philosophy: A team may be changing its approach to baseball operations, which could involve altering contract lengths, trading strategies, and personnel decisions.

Therefore, while the actions you described could be indicative of a team preparing for a sale, they don't definitively prove it. It's essential to consider the team's overall performance, financial situation, and recent statements from ownership and management to get a clearer picture of their intentions.”

[jersey cubs fan]

Wtf is this nonsense?

[Bertz]

Open the schools

[chibears55]

Eventually they will, probably within 10 years, but not now.

 

[CubinNY]

2 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Eventually they will, probably within 10 years, but not now.

 

They are heavily invested in real estate around the park and have transformed the neighborhood. They are not selling the Cubs. Wrigleyville is a money factory. 

[Outshined_One]

Is this an ad?

[Rex Buckingham]

This is stupid. We don't need this "content"

[Bull]

what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

[Statyllus]

It’s a thinking exercise. Give it a try. Does it matter if the Ricketts are selling or not if Hoyer is RUNNING the team like they’re selling it.  Clearly, under Hoyer regime the team is not running the Cubs like other major market teams.  Hoyer doesn’t compete for top players, he dumps salary and talent and does not convert into anything beneficial to winning. Jed traded for an arbitration eligible player soon to be FA in Tucker with the undisputed fact that he has NEVER signed a player contract for $200M+. He traded away a proven player at 3B without a rock solid plan to replace him. (Matt Shaw has 2 yrs professional experience and has never played an inning MLB) Nor has Hoyer as President VP Op developed a Cubs superstar - lots of flame outs and high hopes. Biggest move is record setting contract for a manager that did not win even one more win than the previous manager.  All of MLB thinks Cubs management and Ricketts are pathetic - and benefit from an outstanding loyal fan base. Perhaps the fan base is the issue. We get what we deserve mostly. 

4 hours ago, chibears55 said:

Eventually they will, probably within 10 years, but not now

[javy knows my name]

This guy really doesn't like Vidal Brujan

[jersey cubs fan]

The initial notice was a physical appearance black. 

[Statyllus]

Mind numbingly idiotic response to irony. Did the Cubs compete for any first tier FA this offseason? No. Did they even pretend they were competing for talent? No.  Did they dump Bellinger’s salary?Yes.

Did they reinvest that salary or get equal talent back in return? No.

Did they over pay for Tucker that history says they’re just renting?Yes. Do they have a sure fire 3B talent on the team? No. Did they trade away such a talent.? Yes. But here you are kissing the Ricketts’ ass

Tell me what would selling the team look like if they were? Enjoy Cub Con. 

[CubinNY]

Sympathetic to the sentiment but hard to understand the logic between the Cubs act like a mid market team and the reason is they are ready to sell. 
 

They have mediocre people who love mediocre players. It works to turn one helluva a profit. 

[SOFNR]

5 minutes ago, Statyllus said:

 

Mind numbingly idiotic response to irony. Did the Cubs compete for any first tier FA this offseason? No. Did they even pretend they were competing for talent? No.  Did they dump Bellinger’s salary?Yes.

Did they reinvest that salary or get equal talent back in return? No.

Did they over pay for Tucker that history says they’re just renting?Yes. Do they have a sure fire 3B talent on the team? No. Did they trade away such a talent.? Yes. But here you are kissing the Ricketts’ ass

Tell me what would selling the team look like if they were? Enjoy Cub Con. 

Man, I don't like the Ricketts. I've had a ton of critical things to say about them over the last 6 years. The Cubs just traded for potentially a top 10 player. They traded away a fifth outfielder who's money could be better spent. It sucks they  insist on not going over the tax but they're going to spend another 30-40 million on improving the team this offseason. It's really easy to see if you're paying attention. They're not selling the team. This is horsefeathers stupid. 

[jersey cubs fan]

This question was recently posed to Gemini, Google’s AI and here is its objective response.

[Statyllus]

Cubs fans need to stop insulting “mid market” teams by saying the Cubs act like them. AZ is a mid market team and they just signed a $200M SP. Point is the Cubs are deploying and leveraging strategies that businesses use for primarily for 2 reasons. 1. They don’t invest enough to truly compete usually because they are cash strapped (Cubs shouldn’t be cash strapped but do carry high debt level) 2. polishing up the books to sell. I don’t  know if the Cubs are selling or not. I don’t care if they are or not. In any case, the Cubs  don’t effectively compete and do employ strategies that look like polishing up the books. Now it is possible to do more with less investment-but are you making the case Hoyer’s Cubs have successfully done that? Who know why Hoyer has chosen theses strategies. But they are not best practice among team that win on a regular basis. 

[CubinNY]

6 minutes ago, Statyllus said:

Cubs fans need to stop insulting “mid market” teams by saying the Cubs act like them. AZ is a mid market team and they just signed a $200M SP. Point is the Cubs are deploying and leveraging strategies that businesses use for primarily for 2 reasons. 1. They don’t invest enough to truly compete usually because they are cash strapped (Cubs shouldn’t be cash strapped but do carry high debt level) 2. polishing up the books to sell. I don’t  know if the Cubs are selling or not. I don’t care if they are or not. In any case, the Cubs  don’t effectively compete and do employ strategies that look like polishing up the books. Now it is possible to do more with less investment-but are you making the case Hoyer’s Cubs have successfully done that? Who know why Hoyer has chosen theses strategies. But they are not best practice among team that win on a regular basis. 

Tom’s burner account. 

[Statyllus]

Cub Fan Boy. Head  in butt

[Statyllus]

You still haven’t addressed the content. Are the Ricketts and Hoyer using strategies to run the Cub that are often deployed by teams that are up for sale? BTW that’s different than saying the Cubs are being sold. I ironically asked whether the Cubs were up for sale. Just like you’re deploying a strategy of being deliberately obtuse.  This is a pretty easy thing to get plugged into once it’s explained but yet you haven’t pointed to single strategy that would  NOT be deployed by a team that was being sold. Give it try. Show me how really smart you are.  You’ve failed to do that thus far. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

This kind of thing is exactly what AI is spectacularly bad at. Artificial Intelligence is a mile wide and an inch deep in general use cases.

[CubinNY]

11 minutes ago, Statyllus said:

You still haven’t addressed the content. Are the Ricketts and Hoyer using strategies to run the Cub that are often deployed by teams that are up for sale? BTW that’s different than saying the Cubs are being sold. I ironically asked whether the Cubs were up for sale. Just like you’re deploying a strategy of being deliberately obtuse.  This is a pretty easy thing to get plugged into once it’s explained but yet you haven’t pointed to single strategy that would  NOT be deployed by a team that was being sold. Give it try. Show me how really smart you are.  You’ve failed to do that thus far. 

No. They are running a strategy that says 1) the luxury tax is enough money and 2) sustainable winners are built by the farm system. Jed has bet that his “type” of player (mold made by Ian Happ) is going to win. So far he’s been mostly wrong. The Ricketts and Jed are simpatico on long term contracts. They don’t like paying for past production and diminishing skills. At least that’s my read. 
 

The Ricketts family are the worst sorts of people any way you want to look at them. But they have a plan and Jed is running the team accordingly. It also happens to be a plan that makes them oodles of money.
 

 

Edited December 29, 2024 by CubinNY

[SOFNR]

33 minutes ago, Statyllus said:

You still haven’t addressed the content. Are the Ricketts and Hoyer using strategies to run the Cub that are often deployed by teams that are up for sale? BTW that’s different than saying the Cubs are being sold. I ironically asked whether the Cubs were up for sale. Just like you’re deploying a strategy of being deliberately obtuse.  This is a pretty easy thing to get plugged into once it’s explained but yet you haven’t pointed to single strategy that would  NOT be deployed by a team that was being sold. Give it try. Show me how really smart you are.  You’ve failed to do that thus far. 

Alright, imagine the Chicago Cubs are like a big team of superheroes trying to win a big race. In 2025, they’ve got a mix of new heroes and some older ones. The old heroes have done cool stuff before, but they’re getting a little bit slower. The new heroes, though, are really fast and trying to help the team win the race. 

 

Now, when we look at the Cubs, their pitching (the players who throw the ball) is kind of like their shield. Some of them are really strong and can stop the other team from scoring, but sometimes they get tired or make mistakes, and that’s a problem. They need to stay strong the whole race if they want to win.

 

Then, there’s their hitting (the players who hit the ball). Some of their hitters are great, like a superhero with a super strong bat. But sometimes, the bat doesn’t hit the ball as much as it should, so they don’t score enough runs. It's like trying to win the race but not getting enough speed boosts.

 

The team also has some really good players, like Nico Hoerner, who's super fast and helps in both hitting and fielding, but if everyone else doesn’t step up, it’s like having a fast car but no one else is helping push it. There are some young players who could be the future stars, but they’re still learning to be the best.

 

In short, the Cubs in 2025 have a lot of promise, but they need to figure out how to get their heroes working together better, especially the pitching and hitting. If they can do that, they’ll be a lot tougher to beat and might even make it to the big game at the end of the season. But if they don’t, it might feel like they got stuck in traffic along the way.

Edited December 29, 2024 by SOFNR

[chibears55]

4 hours ago, CubinNY said:

They are heavily invested in real estate around the park and have transformed the neighborhood. They are not selling the Cubs. Wrigleyville is a money factory. 

Not now but they will eventually...

They invested so they can turn a huge billion dollars profit when they do decide to sell 

[Outshined_One]

ChatGPT, write a post on NSBB that would incite a flame war while providing no useful information whatsoever.

[Rob]

1 hour ago, Outshined_One said:

ChatGPT, write a post on NSBB that would incite a flame war while providing no useful information whatsoever.

What site are you guys using for your payroll figures?