(670 The Score) On a weekend the Cubs welcomed thousands of diehards to the Sheraton Grand Chicago for a celebration at their annual fan convention, chairman Tom Ricketts took issue with the narrative that he and the organization don’t spend enough financially.
"The business model in baseball, it’s worked pretty well for a long time, but there’s a few things right now that are just a little out of kilter,” Ricketts said on Inside the Clubhouse on Saturday morning. “Obviously, the Dodgers have a lot more resources, naturally, from smart business moves they made years ago. I don’t begrudge them any of that. Some teams just have outside resources that are funding their player moves and acquisitions, and that’s really hard to compete with. I understand when fans say, ‘How come you don’t spend like that?’ Because they think somehow we have all these dollars that the Dodgers have or the Mets have or the Yankees have and we just keep it. Which isn't true at all. What happens is we try to break even every year, and that's about it.
“There’s a competitive balance issue that gets created. But the other problem is, I don’t think fans should spend all their time thinking about which teams have more money or how much they’re spending. We should talk about the players and who we draft and who we’re developing. I just think it becomes a big narrative that’s a distraction. So I think the model could get better.”
Ricketts added another frustration of his is that his family has “invested more in the team and the ballpark and neighborhood than any one owner out of their pocket in baseball.” The Ricketts family financed the renovation of Wrigley Field, which cost $740 million in the end, Ricketts told The Athletic back in 2020. That price tag hovered around $1 billion when including investment in properties in the area surrounding Wrigley Field.
“No one has that kind of financial commitment to their team,” Ricketts said. “So when I have a fan come up and say, ‘Hey, you’re cheap’ or ‘Open your wallet’ or something like that, I just think they’re misinformed. I think it’s the wrong way to look at our ownership.”
The Cubs had the seventh-highest payroll in MLB in 2024, according to Spotrac. They were a hair over the $237-million luxury tax threshold last season.
The Cubs currently have about $200 million in financial commitments for 2025 when accounting for luxury tax purposes. The luxury tax is $241 million for 2025, and Ricketts believes the Cubs will end up near that again, he told The Athletic recently.
Ricketts has stressed the Cubs aren’t done making additions this offseason and that they’ll also have the flexibility to add before the trade deadline in the summer. The Cubs' payroll commitment for 2025 currently ranks 14th in MLB, according to Fangraphs, though many free agents still haven't signed this offseason as spring training looms in a month.
Ricketts cited another example in sharing his view that he’s criticized unfairly, pointing to the Cubs’ trade of outfielder Cody Bellinger to the Yankees in December. The Cubs got little in return, with their main goal being to get off the $50 million remaining on his contract across the next two seasons.
“If we trade Cody Bellinger for a starting pitcher, that's a trade,” Ricketts said. “If we trade Cody Bellinger to get the resources to sign a pitcher, that's a salary dump. It doesn't make any sense.”
Since trading Bellinger to the Yankees on Dec. 17, the Cubs have signed reliever Caleb Thielbar to a one-year, $2.75-million deal and right-hander Colin Rea to a one-year, $5-million deal, according to reports.
“Those resources come back in, Jed (Hoyer) gets to repurpose them, he’ll put them back where the team has a greater need, and that’s how we get better,” Ricketts said.
“We’re not done yet this offseason.”
Ricketts also shed light on his mindset for how the Cubs can compete at the highest level despite not spending like the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets and others. The Cubs are coming off an 83-79 campaign in 2024 in which they missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
"The way you're going to win the World Series is to make the playoffs as often as possible,” he said.
“If you keep making it to the playoffs, you've got a shot. Our goal is to be consistent and always have a team that we think can win our division … absolutely, we've got to get back to being a team that competes for titles. That's everything."