NEWSLETTER
I think you have to take this with the proper understanding of Tom Ricketts’ place in the organization and the incentive structures at play, but I do think it’s nevertheless notable just how firmly the team’s owner said what he said.
Over in England in advance of the London Series this weekend, Ricketts was speaking to fans about, among other things, the arrival of trade season next month. Rather than wholly hedging his position, he made it clear that the default mode right now for the Cubs is to be buyers.
“Obviously we’re buyers right now,” Ricketts said, prompting cheers, per the Chicago Tribune. “Things can come off the rails, but I don’t think they will. I think what we have is a core that can compete for the division and compete for the playoffs and now it’s finding the missing parts to add to it.
“I think Jed had a really good offseason. We came into this year thinking we’d be contending for our division. All the credit to (manager David Ross) and the players for coming together.”
That is a VERY positive outlook on the current state of the team, which justifiably deserves at least some positivity.
But for Ricketts to be suggesting that the Cubs would only *not* be buyers at this point if things “come off the rails,” that gives you some serious insight into which direction any tiebreakers would lean. In other words, something I’ve said before seems to be true: whereas the front office may have been looking for an excuse to sell in recent years past, I think this year they’ll be looking for an excuse to buy. (Or at least not sell.) And they’ll have full ownership support in that pursuit (and a little room left under the luxury tax threshold, too).
Let’s be clear, this is how an owner WANTS things to be when he is speaking publicly in late-June. Ricketts has ever incentive in the world to want fans to believe the team will continue to be competitive for many months to come, and indeed will supplement the team soon. I’m not trying to be entirely cynical about this – because Ricketts could have guarded his words, but chose not to – but you do have to keep that in mind.
We’ve LONG known that ownership and the front office desperately wanted this season to be minimally competitive. It’s why being near .500 is so important. Why no one running away with the NL Central yet is so important. And why generally staying healthy and productive is so important. These guys do not want to sell. They want to have a justifiable excuse to buy.
Let’s just hope things do not come off the rails, as it sure looked like they had a few weeks ago. I was wrong then, and I’d be very happy to keep on being wrong. I am still not quite convinced that, ultimately, buying will wind up more likely than selling when all is said and done at the end of July, but the Cubs have certainly done more than enough lately to turn my head.
Keep on climbing, Cubs. I want to be in a position to start scouring the the trade pool for lefty power bats, corner infielders, and impact relievers …
