The Cubs don't spend enough and too much all at once
Tom Ricketts wants us to believe he's just a poor like you and me


Tom Ricketts' role at the Cubs Convention has been downscaled pretty sharply. He used to give a kind of state of the team speech during the opening ceremonies and for the first few years he and some of his idiot siblings would do a Q and A panel. Now, his role is limited to coming out to kick things off and to limit the opportunity for fans to boo him while he introduces the next inductees of the Cubs Utility Tunnel of Fame.
But, he still does do a few media interviews during the event. This past weekend he talked to The Score and to our pal Patrick Mooney at The Athletic. I guess we know why they limit him.
Ricketts insists, over and over, that the Cubs are limited in the funds they have to spend because they expect the team to "break even."
There are two reasons why this is crap.
First, given how much money the Cubs make on ticket sales, merchandise sales, sponsorships, local media rights, national media rights and national digital rights they could easily justify an even bigger payroll than they already do. Second, even if we believe their fantasy that they are just breaking even, why the fuck would they limit themselves to that? Their dad bought them the team for $845 million in 2009. The franchise is estimated to be worth FIVE TIMES that amount now. If they actually wanted to win they could justify running huge deficits for years and years before it would ever be anything close to a financial concern.
And, it's not like this is their family business. Dad sold that in 2019 for $26 billion.
Billion.
So, when Tom says shit like this to The Score on Saturday, you would be excused if you just threw your phone into the street.
Tom Ricketts on fans calling for Cubs to spend more:
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) January 18, 2025
"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."
Yeah, "they" think that because you do just keep it. You might not have as much money as Steve Cohen or Guggenheim Partners, but it's a lot closer than you want us to realize, and so far neither of those ownerships have done any deals that you couldn't have if you really wanted to.
But here's something you never hear Tom asked about. If you aren't trying to build a team to win the World Series, but rather you're trying to build a team to win the NL Central and hope you can get on an unlikely roll in the playoffs (which is their stated goal), why are you even spending as much as you are?